


Wolf Signal

by Lumendea



Series: Wolf Pack [1]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bad Wolf, F/M, Family, Gen, Romance, reunion story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-05
Updated: 2015-08-24
Packaged: 2018-04-13 03:16:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 35,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4505616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lumendea/pseuds/Lumendea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor always believed that Rose had a fantastic life and he was right, but Bad Wolf knew that he needed Rose too. When one human life runs out, Rose gains a new one and one last chance back in the universe of her birth. But time has too much time passed for her to simply return to an old life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Read the SIgns

Wolf Signal

Chapter One: Read the Signs

by Lumendea

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.

 

AN: This is an older story that I have cleaned up a bit. It is not as polished as my newer works, but hopefully you will enjoy reading it as I continue to churn out Guardians of the Universe. This story was written after Journey's End  
.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

The Doctor glanced over at Natalie Wong as she lounged in the flight chair with a magazine. A small smile tugged at his lips as he watched his companion of six Earth months chew on her gum while immersed in a Xtholar magazine. She was a young woman from upper London of Chinese descent. Despite going to all the right schools and passing her A levels with flying colors, she had set off to hike from France to Greece rather than start at university. He had found her in Northern Italy in the middle of a rather silly alien plot which had consisted of Natalie yelling at a small group of Peanar separatists. After he’d sorting everyone out, Natalie had invited herself to travel with him. Reminded him a bit of Peri really, but it was nice. Most of time Natalie reminded him of Ace and Donna, all stubbornness and unorthodox intelligence, but she has also demonstrated a great capacity for compassion during their last few adventures.

 

“Where are we going now, Doctor?” Natalie asked, breaking into his thoughts.

 

“How about we put her on random and see where we end up?” he suggested calmly, already reaching for the lever.

 

“Sounds smashing!” Natalie laughed as she stood and joined him at the controls.

 

“Good! Hold down that button,” the Doctor commanded, gesturing to a small blue button as he held down a pair of levers.

 

The TARDIS jerked and began spinning through the Vortex in the opposite direction. The Doctor laughed, joining Natalie’s soft giggles as they held on.

 

“I love this! Traveling with you, I love it!” Natalie cheered as the TARDIS tumbled about.

 

He didn’t mean to, but the Doctor frowned at the familiar words. Natalie noticed right away and her grin dropped away. Instead she offered him a small and slightly nervous smile for a moment before turning to look at the controls instead of him. The Doctor banished the thoughts of Rose from his mind and gave Natalie a grin, hoping to reassure his companion.

 

The TARDIS materialized in a tight space between two tall buildings built from soft blue colored wood. Stepping outside, Natalie laughed as she turned to look at the TARDIS between the blue buildings.

 

“Do you think we’ll be able to find the TARDIS again?” she asked as she looked around the alley they were in, “I mean all the buildings are this blue.”

 

“Must be on Feleup. The trees are this shade on the inside and they build everything with it,” the Doctor explained, closing the TARDIS door and patting her side fondly.

 

“Are they peaceful?” Natalie asked, taking a tentative step away from the TARDIS.

 

 

“Yeah,” the Doctor rubbed the back of his neck and looked over at Natalie, “I’ve just accidently brought you to one of the biggest tourist traps of the 67th century.”

 

“That’s great!” Natalie cheered as she grabbed his hand and dragged him down the alley, “I can pick up something for Lee and Daddy.”

 

“How are you going to explain them to your father and brother?”

 

“Time I visited them and told them that I’m traveling with you,” Natalie answered with a shrug.

 

The Doctor dug his feet into the ground beneath them, stopping Natalie in her tracks. She turned to the Doctor to find a sad and far off look on his face.

 

“Natalie, I’d rather not visit London,” the Doctor told her in a tight neutral tone.

 

“Rose, right?” Natalie asked.

 

The Doctor blinked at her and began to mouth his question. Natalie pushed some of her long black hair behind her ear and shrugged.

 

“Jack told me when you helped Torchwood with that Rift problem,” she explained gently. “He and Martha pulled me aside, they thought I should know.” Natalie paused, “Next time you need to see them or refuel the TARDIS can you give me time to run to London on the train?”

 

The Doctor nodded and swallowed, “It isn’t really London, Natalie. I just don’t have much luck with companions’ mothers. In the old days companions never visited their families. Martha’s mum hit me when we first met,” he added trying to lighten up the mood.

 

“All right,” Natalie said as she started pulling on his arm, “Don’t worry about it Doctor. I can stash the presents until I go home again.”

 

“When will that be?” he asked curiously and cautiously.

 

“I don’t know,” Natalie laughed, “But I can’t travel with you forever. Got plans for university and being an architect after all.”

 

The Doctor didn’t say anything more on the subject. Instead he slipped into tour guide mode and showed Natalie the way to the main Old Market of the planet. He showed her all the famous and well known shops and showed her odd little mice like creatures that the natives kept as pets. What he didn’t show her and what he didn’t see was the sign for the Fell Vireo festival, translated to English as Bad Wolf.

 

……………………….

 

 

Captain Jack Harkness grinned as he looked out at his office as Mickey worked his magic on the computer. The new addition wasn’t as refined as Tosh had been, but he got the job done and fast. Mickey had adjusted to the new Torchwood very quickly, even if the one he had worked at for five years had been above ground with a much larger staff. Jack was just as glad that he only had to worry about a small team of people and didn’t have to worry about things spilling over into London.

 

His eyes moved over to Martha who was walking up from the med bay. She had been a little slower in adjusting to Torchwood. Her experience at UNIT and with the Doctor made her valuable to his team, but she had met Owen and Tosh before she joined the team. There had been some lingering doubts over taking Owen’s place on the team which he understood. Nearby, Gwen was flipping through the files with Ianto and charting a possible pattern on one of the machines.

 

There was a calm hanging over the Hub which made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. It was too quiet out there in the world, too normal and too… something. It had Jack dreading the next moment. He could almost taste that something was coming. He glanced around the Torchwood Hub again before picking up the phone and dialing Sarah Jane. Maybe she had heard something through her connections, checking with an ally never hurt even if she wasn’t the most friendly person he’d ever met. Maybe that was just the guns and her having a pair of kids.

 

Gwen reached over and turned on one of the radios with her normal wide smile. The sudden blast of music made Jack, Mickey and Martha jump, but everyone shook it off. Martha grinned at Gwen as the other woman began to drum her fingers along with the beat of the song. Standing up, Jack stretched out his legs and wandered out of his office. He gave a flirty smile to Ianto who nodded in return, but couldn’t hide the tug of a smile on his lips. Jack paused to listen to the song, but couldn’t place it.

 

“I haven’t heard this one before,” Jack said with a glance at the radio.

 

“I have,” Ianto replied with a shrug, “It is a new group.”

 

“You need to turn on the radio more often,” Gwen joked, “It’s on all the time.” She turned back to her work and started to sing along, “Now the Big Bad Wolf returns to finish the story with a twist. Watch out! Watch out! The Bad Wolf draws nearer to you.”

 

Blinking at Gwen, Jack caught Mickey turn and frown at the radio with a look of intense worry and consideration. A moment later Mickey shook his head and went back to his work, but he kept glancing toward the radio even after the song ended. Crossing his arms over his chest, Jack walked over to Mickey and leaned against the corner of his desk.

 

“I saw that look Mickey. Those words still got you jumping,” Jack asked in a teasing tone, but unable to disguise his concern.

 

“You know as well as me what they used to mean,” Mickey answered without looking up. “I told you all about it myself.”

 

“Used to,” Jack stressed, “Rose already led herself to saving the Doctor. The words are done.”

 

Mickey chuckled and shook his head, “No, they’re not. Thing is that while we were building the Dimension Cannon Bad Wolf popped up all over the place. We started to notice it more and more until the last piece of equipment that we needed for the Cannon came in a box from Bad Wolf Electronics and sent via Böser Wolf shipping from the French city Mal Loup.”

 

“You are kidding right?” Jack asked, raising an eyebrow.

 

“Sorry, but no,” Mickey sighed as he slumped back in his chair. “I don’t claim to understand what Rose became for those moments, but I do know that she saved the universe from the Daleks and I do know that if we hadn’t been in that alternate world a few years ahead of you, the Doctor wouldn’t have been able to stop Davros. There was a plan.” Mickey shook his head, “And frankly Captain Flash I don’t think she’s done yet.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My first book is now available on amazon. If you like my stuff please go and take a look at The Iron Realm by J.M. Briggs!


	2. Local Legend

Wolf Signal

Chapter Two: Local Legend

by Lumendea

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Hesitantly, Jenny nibbled at the dark brown mass that her hosts had presented her with for dinner. She kept a small smile on her face as she sampled the taste carefully before grinning. It had a tangy and fruity taste that she decided she quite liked, but hadn’t expected in the rather boring looking lump of food.

 

“This is very good, Zedia,” she said slowly in their language, careful to get the words right. “Thank you.”

 

The older woman seated across from her who had been waiting for the verdict smiled widely at her, saying something that Jenny didn’t quite catch. Jenny had been on this planet for three weeks now and had learned most of the language, thanks to her intelligence and listening to what was going on around her, but on occasion she still missed something. Her grasp of the local language was rapidly becoming a point of both pride and worry for her. After all she’d been here long enough to learn the whole language.

 

Ever since her ship, the Lupo Difestia had crashed she had been stuck here on Keribos. The locals were humanoid and looked very similar to herself save the slight reddish tint to their skin and the long tails that were kept wrapped around their waists. Lucky for her, they had an advanced enough civilization that she would eventually be able to fix her ship, but it was taking time to reshape their technology into the proper format.

 

Jenny liked the people well enough. They lived in peaceful communal cities and were taking good care of her and never asking for anything from her. If she’d been a different sort of person it might have been really tempting to stay and work with the local craftsman and reveal new technologies. Yet Jenny had to fight down the itch to run every day. She missed the stars and exploring, seeing new and wondrous things even if she felt guilty sometimes for being in such a hurry to leave. And thankfully the people were very content with who they were. Their area had a lovely climate, food wasn’t an issue with a little bit of daily tending labor and they were mostly free from disease.

 

Dinner was finished in relative silence with her host for the night Zedia answering a few of her questions slowly and telling Jenny about what she gathered were her grandchildren who lived in the next village over. Once they were done, Jenny stacked the square wooden plates and carried them into the ‘prep’ room where Zedia and her daughter Yliva were washing them. The two natives were speaking with each other at a much faster pace meaning that Jenny only caught about half of the words. From the context she imagined they were talking about recent events in the village.

 

“Can I help with anything else?” Jenny asked carefully minding her words as help and destroy were remarkably similar works in their language.

 

“No,” Zedia answered slower than necessary for Jenny’s benefit. “We are fine. Why don’t you go and listen to the stories. We will follow soon.”

 

Jenny bowed gratefully to her hosts and grinned. “Thank you again for caring for me tonight,” she added respectfully.

 

“Of course,” Zedia assured her with a smile that exposed her double rows of ridged teeth.

 

Humming softly, Jenny rolled her shoulders as she walked out of the small house. A short path lead from the doorway to a stone plaza around which everything was built. Small gardens and little fences separated the houses from the open area where a well stood along with benches and a raised dais. Lights were spun between the buildings around the plaza, creating a net of lights above Jenny’s head. She paused and glanced around at the collection of homes. Ever since she had crashed nearby, she had spent a different night with each family so no one carried the burden of looking out of her alone. Jenny was grateful to them all and tried to tell them whenever she could.

 

Her mood dimmed a little at the thought, but Jenny kept walking until she reached the street that led away from the square. The net of lights still hung above her, winding between the buildings that lined the street, but less intense. She looked up between the cords of light at the stars and wondered as she did almost every time she saw the stars where her father was. Memories of his smile and the way his eyes had lit up when she’d told him that she hadn’t shot the general pushed forward. For a moment she’d even believed that unlike the other soldiers she’d actually have a family, a real family when he wanted her to come with him.

 

She kicked at the ground for a moment and flinched as the soft leather of the shoe the locals had given her did nothing to protect her foot from the smooth edge of a stone. Jenny returned her eyes to the road and resumed walking down the sloping hill. In the distance she could see the large amphitheater that served this and two other nearby villages illuminated and lines of people moving into the stands.

 

It was a nightly ritual, even when the weather was cold or rainy. Almost everyone from the three villages traveled to the amphitheater in order to hear the stories. Jenny wasn’t sure if it was the primary basis for the transfer of knowledge from one generation to the next, but it was certainly pleasant. There was a great deal of noise when she arrived, friends from different villages talking with each other and children playing on the stands that were carved into the side of the hill.

 

Lights made of thin paper and a softly glowing flower found along the river were set along the path to illuminate the steps and benches. Even more lined the stage with delicately crafted bases to spread the light across the small stage. Jenny quickly found a seat next to a small family that had hosted her last week and greeted with a few kind words. She caught sight of Zedia and her family entering the amphitheater just before the lights began to dim as covers were placed over the lamp openings. An elderly man with a long dark grey beard dressed in a long grey cloak stepped up onto the stage and everyone in the amphitheater quieted.

 

“It was many years ago, in the life time of my grandfather when they came,” the speaker called out, his voice carrying easily through the stands. “The skies had gone dark as thick clouds hid the sun for weeks on end. The crops began to fail, unable to grow in the darkness and children cried out in hunger as their parents could do nothing to help them. Our ancestors faced death when the blue box arrived on the cliffs beyond our village. From the box came a wise man called the Doctor.”

 

Jenny blinked, her back straightening up as a flood of excitement rushed through her. But she caught herself, certain that she couldn’t have translated the word right. It was too much to believe that he was talking about her father. Yet a spark of hope remained and she leaned forward eagerly. Her fingers tapped against her leg and she licked her suddenly dry lips in anticipation.

 

“The Doctor and the Bad Wolf explored our village and the caves beyond the mountain with my grandfather. He spoke of a grand city below where beings from another world dwelled in secret from us. Their world had died and they were seeking to remake our world into a world for themselves. The Doctor ordered them to leave us in peace, but the other beings would not.”

 

Jenny nibbled at her lip, it certainly sounded like her father. She smiled in spite of herself. In the brief time she had spent with him, she knew him to be firm in his judgments and hold himself as something as a universal police man. It was brilliant of him, but then she might be a bit bias. Ever since she left Messaline she’d been following stories of him, hoping that one day she’d find him and in the mean time learning about what kind of man he was. Everything she’d learned made her happier and more determined to find him.

 

“It was the Bad Wolf who convinced them leave. My grandfather said that her glowing golden eyes showed them a new world that they could have, a world full of potential and where none would suffer as they rebuilt themselves. The Doctor took them the planet that the Bad Wolf had promised them and then returned to our world. He made the skies light again and helped the crops to grow, saving the people.

 

Standing up, Jenny did her best not to blush when the crowd turned to look at her. The Storyteller pointed her and gestured for her to speak.

 

“What was the Bad Wolf?” Jenny asked before she lost her nerve at being the center of attention. But she had to wonder if it was some kind of bad translation on her part.

 

“A woman,” the elder answered calmly. “She was the image of our goddess the Wolf, the keeper of life. Before she and the Doctor came, her name appeared on our world to foretell of their coming.” The elder paused and smiled at Jenny, “I believe that she will return again.”

 

“Why do you think that elder?” One of the young adults asked as they stood. “Are we in need of her again?”

 

“No,” the elder laughed as he looked at Jenny, “But one of among us is in need.”

 

“I’m doing fine,” Jenny told him defensively, crossing her arms even as her heart beat faster at the idea of something exciting happening.

 

“Perhaps,” the Elder chuckled, “But the name of the vessel you fell to our world in bears the name of the Wolf Goddess.”

 

 

Jenny frowned and found herself inwardly scoffing at the native superstitions. They had technology, but they clung to these old stories. None the less, Jenny gave the Elder a bow and took her seat. Another story was begun, but Jenny found it harder to listen to. Her brain was tingling with energy and curiosity. She hadn’t chosen the name of her ship and really had no idea of what it had meant.

 

The evening wore on with Jenny in a daze until everyone around her rose to their feet and clapped. Jumping up quickly, Jenny joined in and smiled as the storyteller bowed and left the stage. She joined the flow of people leaving the amphitheater and began the walk back up the hill to the village. She turned the story over in her mind. It could easily be true that her father had been here. It was likely that the story of what he had done here had been mixed with one of the older myths of the planet. After all she couldn’t exactly see her father traveling with a Goddess, maybe the original basis of the story was a friend of her fathers. Like Donna.

 

She stopped for a moment to look up at the night sky again. Her eyes searched out the patterns that she had found in the stars after months of being stranded on this planet. Jenny fought the urge to go and keep working on her ship in the dark, but knew that it would bother her hosts. Their cultural rules were very specific about when one should work and when one should rest with the community.

 

Jenny was about to enter the house when a flash of light caught her eye. Turning sharply, she caught sight of a falling star coming toward the village. It glowed brilliantly as it rushed overhead. Jenny’s eyes followed it until it crashed up on the cliffs. She glanced at the house where her hosts were gathered and then looked back toward the cliffs. Grinning, she waved to them and shouted, “I’ll be back later.”


	3. From the Stars

Wolf Signal

Chapter Three: Falling From the Stars

by Lumendea

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Grinning widely, Natalie looked around in wonder as the Doctor lectured on about the growing methods of bananas on the Mitos colony in the Rexolis galaxy. They were walking through a thick grove of banana vines that were growing over heavy columns. His hands were in the pockets of his long brown coat with those glasses he didn’t really need perched on his nose as he examined one of the nearby trees.

 

It was a warm and sunny day with twin suns beating down overhead. All around them worked robots which were picking bananas and packing them into boxes. With a quick movement the Doctor snagged one of the bananas and opened it with a precise practiced move. The Doctor munched on a banana between sentences and babbled on. Finally a giggle escaped Natalie, drawing the Doctor’s attention to her.

 

“What?” he asked around a mouthful of banana.

 

“You are so ridiculous Doctor, one moment facing down a war lord on Obelisca and next obsessing about bananas,” she observed with a grin.

 

“Bananas are good,” the Doctor said with a smile and shrugged, “Sure you don’t want another?”

 

“No Doctor three bananas is my limit,” Natalie informed him kindly as she held up a hand as if to stop him from forcing her to take one.

 

The Doctor nodded and shoved a few more bananas into his pocket from one of the boxes. Natalie glanced down at the pockets, noting the lack of bulge and giggled yet again. It figured that he’d have transdimensional pockets, though she had no idea how that was achieved with fabric. One of the nearby robots beeped at the Doctor, sounding angry, but did nothing to stop him which only made the Doctor’s grin widen.

 

“Right then, onward then,” he cheered as he turned to walk back to the TARDIS. “Come on Natalie. We should go to Chartes next. You’ll just love the architecture there. Everything is based on circles. Might give you some inspiration for that final project of yours.”

 

“Oh I like the sound of that,” Natalie agreed as she followed him inside. “Mind you it’s not the best use of space, but it sounds lovely. Might be useful for upper floors, something to dress up the line of a tall building.”

 

The Doctor nodded absently as they walked into the TARDIS. He shrugged out of his coat and tossed it over the rail before pulling off his glasses and slipping them inside his suit jacket. Natalie hung back with a smile as the Doctor dashed around the TARDIS controls, reaching over and taking hold of one of the railing as they became to dematerialize.

 

………………….

 

Mickey knocked on the door to Jack’s office and glanced down at the file in his hand again. For a moment he really wanted to turn and walk away, maybe find a good pub, but then Jack’s called for him to come in. Mickey took a deep breath and stepped into the office, bracing himself for the conversation. He tossed the file onto Jack’s desk and eased himself into parade rest. Jack raised an eyebrow at him and his silence before dropping his gaze down to the file. Barely breathing, Mickey waited patiently as the Torchwood leader scanned it. Jack glanced up at Mickey and frowned.

 

“You don’t look surprised Mickey,” Jack observed with a hint of irritation.

 

“I’m not,” Mickey replied shrugging, “I haven’t a clue what it means, but I’m not surprised that the rift shows an odd energy reading as ‘Hungry Like the Wolf’ is playing.”

 

Groaning, Jack rubbed his eyes and tried to come up a reasonable explanation. He opened his mouth twice in preparation to speak, but nothing came and he slumped back in his chair.

 

“That’s the third time the word wolf has shown up this month in weird circumstances,” Jack muttered thoughtfully as he rubbed the side of his head as if he was suffering a headache. “And there’ll probably be more soon.”

 

 

“Gwen and Martha are asking about it,” Mickey told him carefully. “You won’t tell them right? I don’t like the idea of telling them. I never got the feeling it was something that was supposed to be general knowledge,” he explained in rush. “I trust them, but this is Rose.”

 

“Torchwood is hardly general-” Jack began to say.

 

“No, but we are talking about a... something that can make a person immortal,” Mickey reminded Jack sternly even as he felt a bit guilty for it. “He told us that Rose and that human him were back in the other universe,” Mickey said with a hint of defeat on his face. “Have you spoken to the Doctor since he refueled last month?”

 

“No,” Jack pulled out his phone and glanced at the number that Martha had given him, “I suppose we should.”

 

“The Doctor needs to know,” Mickey agreed even if his voice still sounded a touch nervous about it, “We agreed that if it happened three times we’d tell him. I don’t like talking to him about Rose any more than you do. It’s never easy Jack, but it’s got to be done. It could be another warning that we can’t afford to ignore just because it brings back out grief.”

 

Jack nodded and pushed send on his phone with a defeated sigh. Mickey folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the wall to give Jack some space and his silent support. It was at moments like this that he was really happy he wasn’t the boss and almost regretted taking up Jack’s offer to join Torchwood.

 

“Hello Doctor,” Jack said with a grin that was obviously forced, “Miss me?” Mickey snorted and shook his head at Captain Jack Flash, but couldn’t quite help a little smile from creeping over his face. Jack winked at him and leaned back in his chair. “Listen Doctor, I need to talk to you. Can you swing by Cardiff?” Jack snorted and rolled his eyes slightly, “No nothing we can’t handle, consider this a courtesy call. Oh and that cutie Natalie is still traveling with you right?”

 

Mickey couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation, but Jack’s eyes spared with honest amusement and his smile transformed into something real. Jack nodded at something that the Doctor said and looked towards Mickey. Catching Mickey’s eye he nodded again and Mickey felt himself sigh in relief. Before he could get pulled into the phone conversation, Mickey slipped out the door where he found Martha waiting for him. Giving her a smile, Mickey caught her hand and squeezed it gently earning a smile in return.

 

……………..

 

Running towards the distant hills where she had seen the crash, Jenny barely felt any hint of exhaustion and didn’t mind the darkness. Above her head the two small moon of the planet reflected a little light from the set sun and the stars twinkled, almost urging her on. Her hearts pounded as she grinned at the sense of freedom spreading through her body. Air rushed over her skin instantly cooling her off and she could smell the smoke of the crash on the breeze. She had missed this, the thrill and wonder of the unexpected. Her smile wasn’t as wide as she climbed the rocky path, but it didn’t lose any of its shine.

 

Jenny paused and looked up at the sharp rocky cliff. She had just enough light to find a path on, but she forced herself to slow down. Glancing over her shoulder, she noted that more lights had been turned on in the village and that she could hear her name echoed over the cliff face from the village. A small twitch of guilt made her flinch, but she couldn’t turn back now. Jenny turned back to the path she had found and carefully worked her way up an old trail to the ridge line.

 

 

There was a long scar in the ground where the falling . . . whatever it was had hit the surface. Jenny frowned as she noticed that some of the rocks had melted and that the brush around her was on fire. Her eyes adjusted to the firelight and she moved along the edge of the scar toward whatever had impacted. Stopping short, she gasped and blinked in disbelief. She closed her eyes and shook her head before looking again. Then a frown overtook her face and she dashed forward toward the humanoid body that was lying at the end of the impact scar.

 

She slowed down enough to check of any clear traps or enemies before she walked forward a bit more and jumped into the depression. Kneeling down, Jenny felt the still warm soil through her clothing and reached out carefully to the humanoid body. It was very hot, but was still alive and breathing softly. Jenny brushed some long blond hair away from the face and couldn’t help but smile at the woman’s peaceful face. She checked the pulse and then slowly began to check for injuries on the body.

 

“Oh my!?”a voice gasped behind her.

 

Jenny jumped and spun around to find several of the village men standing behind her with their torches. She looked down at the woman and then back at them.

 

“I can’t find any injuries,” she informed them, lost at what else to say.

 

The men were stunned silent at the information. A few of them wandered over to the scar and let their eyes follow it to the woman. Jenny herself turned to look back at the woman. She was dressed in a long light green dress with bare feet and her long blond hair was singed slightly on the ends.

 

“We should get her to the village,” Jenny said softly.

 

“She might be dangerous,” one of the men whispered causing Jenny to frown.

 

“We must take her back,” the eldest man, Refiti, said firmly before Jenny could say anything, “It is not safe here.” Refiti looked at the woman and then at Jenny, “We will bring her down, Jenny, please go ahead of us and tell the village to prepare a room.”

 

Nodding, Jenny moved away from the woman but kept glancing at her. Refiti put a hand on her shoulder and smiled to her. His nod reassured her that the woman would be fine. Turning back to the cliffs, Jenny took a breath and began to climb back down.


	4. A Name

Wolf Signal

Chapter Four: A Name

by Lumendea

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Careful not to splash too much water on the woman, Jenny gently washed the dirt off her face with a moist hand cloth. Every move her made was careful as Jenny kept her eyes open for any signs of injury and watched the woman’s steady breathing rate. They’d checked the woman for major injured where they’d found her, but there had been nothing. In fact the medicine men of the village were confused as to why she was even unconscious. Jenny suspected shock or some kind of drugging, but was at a loss to explain the woman’s sudden appearance without a ship or any injuries. People did not just fall from the stars in her, admittedly, limited experience.

 

After a brief debate the villagers had moved the stranger into the room where Jenny was sleeping so she could watch over her. A few visitors had come and asked questions of her hosts and the storyteller had come by only to look at the sleeping woman and nod solemnly. Sighing, Jenny dropped the cloth back into the bowl of water Yliva had given her and sat down on the floor. Her curiosity as to what had happened to her mysterious patient was beginning to wear down Jenny’s patience even as she

 

The woman was a bit older than her in appearance, but with the same sort of facial structure and coloration as her. She had a pretty face and full lips and Jenny had noted she had brown eyes when they’d opened her eyelids to check for signs of trauma. There were thin tiny laugh lines around her eyes that were just visible and a soft row of worry lines between her eyes that Jenny doubted were usually visible. As she ran the soft wet cloth over them Jenny willed them to go away, hoping that the woman’s rest for whatever reason she as unconscious would at least be restful.

 

Washing the woman’s hair was a bit more difficult so Jenny settled for rinsing out clumps of dirt and mud a little at a time. It took more time as she had to empty the bowl of dirty water quiet often and refill it, but as the mud washed away she found the task oddly soothing. The woman’s hair was a shade of blond darker than her own and lightest at the ends which Jenny guessed the difference was from exposure to sunlight. The hair was decently long and looked well cared for with no signs of split ends anywhere though the ends were a bit uneven.

 

Leaning back against the wall, Jenny studied the woman as a whole picture. She was completely still except for her breathing and the long dress was in surprisingly good shape for having been in that impact, of course how the woman fell from the sky was a mystery in itself. It was taking all of Jenny’s self-control to not seek some way of waking the woman up and demanding answers in exchange for the use of her bed. But she was at a loss for how to wake her up safelty.

 

Suddenly, the woman groaned and rolled over on her side. Jenny jumped in surprise with widening excited eyes and moved closer to her guest. The woman’s eyes widened and Jenny’s own blue eyes met a pair of warm brown ones that were wide with surprise as she took in Jenny next to her. Surprisingly there was no hint of panic or alarm, just confusion and a bit of curiosity. Jenny could barely contain her grin of excitement.

 

“What happened?” she croaked out, siting up slowly and carefully.

 

Jenny quickly handed the woman a cup of water which she examined for a moment before sipping slowly. Her eyes were fixed on Jenny for a long moment before they slid around the room. There still was no alarm or panic as the woman took in the environment, but instead a sense of caution and planning.

 

“I’m Jenny,” she announced in as friendly a tone as she could, “You’re safe. We found you in a crater after you... crashed I guess.”

 

“I crashed here?” The woman asked sharply, looking back at Jenny immediately.

 

“Yeah, I did too. My ship the Lupo Difestia crashed on this planet three weeks ago. This planet is Keribos,” Jenny explained calmly, her hands twitching in her lap. “The locals are very friendly and brought you here. The house belongs to Zedia and her husband Tifgo.”

 

The woman was quiet for a moment, eyes glazing over with thought and she nibbled at her lower lip. Then she lay back on the bed and stared up at the wooden ceiling. Jenny gave her a moment, she couldn’t be certain, but the woman’s body language was saying that she didn’t know anything either. Nothing was said and Jenny just listened the woman’s deep breathing.

 

 

“What is your name?” Jenny asked after a moment seeing that the woman was starting to drift off again.

 

“Rose Tyler,” the woman answered before closing her eyes and sighing. “My name is Rose Tyler.”

 

…………………….

 

Grinning, Jack could barely contain himself as the TARDIS materialized a few meter from the lift with the telltale grinding sound that was audible even through the cameras. Leaning over Tosh’s station Jack watched the blue box solidify into view. A wind kicked up around the box sending a a stray newspaper was fluttering through the air. Jack laughed as the people on the walk just glanced at the box, shook their heads and moved on.

 

“Wow are most humans really that daft?” Mickey asked behind him, “Hate to think that Big Ears was right.”

 

“Big ears?” Gwen asked with a frown, “I thought you were talking about the Doctor.”

 

Smirking, Jack and Mickey glanced at each other before Jack winked at Gwen who gave him an irritated look in return. It just made Jack’s smile widen and a laugh escaped him before he could help himself.

 

“Come on Mickey,” Jack called as they walked to the lift. “Any thoughts on how to tell him about this little series of occurrences?” He asked as they stepped onto the lift. Jack activated it with a nervous feeling churning in his stomach as they began to rise out of the hub.

 

“You’re the head of Torchwood Captain Flash, you figure it out,” Mickey half growled, his own nervousness apparent.

 

Jack grinned at Mickey as the younger man shook his head and muttered under his breath. The lift came to a slow halt as they reached the main square and found themselves less than three feet from the TARDIS. They stepped off the lift and walked toward the TARDIS as it door opened. The Doctor stepped out still pulling on his long brown coat. He gave them a wide smile, but glanced around with an odd expression and dark eyes. Natalie stepped out of the TARDIS behind him, glanced at the Doctor and closed the door with a soft click. Smiling, she turned her attention to Jack and Mickey.

 

“Do you need me here or is it alright if I jump on the train to visit my family?” she asked them gently as she glanced between the duo and the Doctor.

 

The Doctor gave Jack a questioning look, but Jack calmly shook his head and gave Natalie a dazzling smile. The Doctor huffed at Jack, but turned back towards Natalie with a smile.

 

“Have fun Natalie,” he told her gently, putting his arm around her for a quick hug.

 

“Have Ianto give you lift to the station,” Jack added with a smile of his own. “It’s a bit nippy out. He’s just inside the information office.”

 

“Thanks,” Natalie agreed with a nod and a grin. She gave Jack a questioning look, but said nothing more before she began walking across the Plaza for Torchwood’s more public entrance.

 

“So the worlds not ending then,” the Doctor said once Natalie left their sight. “So why did you feel the need to call me?” He asked with a slightly disappointed and stern tone in his voice as his eyes lingered on Mickey for a moment.

 

“Why don’t you come down to the Hub?” Jack offered with a charming smile. “We can talk over some tea or if you like coffee.”

 

 

“Jack,” the Doctor said in a warning tone.

 

“Doctor,” Mickey cut in before an argument could start. “Really we need to talk inside.”

 

The Doctor looked at him and Mickey refused to sink under the sharp gaze. Finally the Doctor nodded and gestured them to lead on. Nodding, Jack stepped back onto the lift and waited for the others to join him. He shared one last nervous look with Mickey as the lift became to descend taking the two Torchwood employees and the Doctor back down into the Hub.

 

……………..

 

The strange woman slept all through the night after telling Jenny her name. She’d drifted off with a worried sigh and a few tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes. Jenny had been loathe to leave her, but had finally left the house to work on her ship the following morning, leaving Yliva to look after Rose Tyler for a while. The temptation to remain with Rose in case she woke up again had been immense, but she couldn’t handle being stuck inside any longer. When Yliva offered to watch over Rose for the fifth time Jenny had finally caved and headed out to the large cleaning on the far side of the village where the locals had taken the remains of her ship.

 

Sighing, Jenny rubbed the largest of the navigation system’s crystalline gears with a cloth to clean it. She carefully slid the small red crystals back into their positions and double checked that all the grime and dirt were off of them. Leaning back in the cockpit chair, Jenny smiled to herself and ran her hand over the controls. She had refashioned the burned out parts of the ship’s control from little things on the planet. Jenny had turned their junk into gears, gages and engine parts and every time she looked at them Jenny felt a strong burst of pride. For a moment she wondered what her father would have thought of that.

 

Shaking her head, Jenny pushed her thoughts about her father out of her mind. Soon the Lupo Difestia would be back in the air and she could return to her life of running and exploring. There was so much to see and do out there, she couldn’t dwell on her father. Maybe she’d find him someday and maybe she wouldn’t, but in the mind time she had her ship and a lovely little mystery.

 

“Good day Jenny,” a voice called to her from outside.

 

Turning, Jenny slipped out of the ship and dropped to the ground. Dusting off the faded green shirt she still liked to wear, Jenny turned to see the village storyteller, the Elder, standing closely. He looked up at her ship with a smile and nodded in approval.

 

“You will be able to return to the night sky soon young one.”

 

“I suppose,” Jenny answered with a smile. “The engine needs some more cleaning. When I tried to start her up last week it spit out dirt.”

 

“How is the strange fallen woman?” the Elder asked as he began to circle the ship.

 

“Asleep Elder. Yliva is taking care of her. She only woke up for a short time last night. Her name is Rose Tyler,” Jenny informed him, cleaning off her hands with a spare rag.

 

“Rose Tyler...” the Elder repeated carefully, he seemed confused, “Are you sure Jenny?”

 

“That is what she said Elder. I’m certain that is what she said,” Jenny stepped forward, “What we’re expecting Elder?”

 

“Bad Wolf,” he informed her before nodding to her. “Good day Jenny.” Then he turned and started walking down the hill back towards the village leaving Jenny staring after him with a startled and rather confused expression.


	5. Awakening

Wolf Signal

Chapter Five: Awakening

by Lumendea

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Groaning, Rose stretched out her tired and tight muscles as she began to wake. Her eyes tightened and her lips pursed as if she was having a bad dream. Something felt off, but she wasn’t quiet sure as she fought back the haze of sleep. It lingered longer than it should have and the lack of any true ache in her muscles made her vaguely wonder if she drugged. The thought did not bring the bolt of panic it would have so many years ago. Instead she breathed in and out slowly as the fog over her senses began to retreat.

 

Slowly her features began to relax, a soft sigh escaped her and she opened her eyes. Rose didn’t move as she let her eyes trace over the unfamiliar ceiling and listened for the sound of anyone in the room. It was very quiet and still, but she could hear the sounds of other people moving outside the room with muffled footsteps. Still she considered the ceiling with a hint of confusion. It looked rather primitive with cross beams of wood and a thick layer of thatch over her head. She wondered where she was that there was such a roof.

 

Turning her head, she looked over at the closed door and relaxed slightly. She was alone for the moment which gave her time to gather her thoughts. As she eyes swept the room for clue to her location, Rose began to sit up, mindful of any injuries she might have. The room was small and rather plain with wood and plaster wall that looked like something out of the Tudor period. Some kind of woven decoration was hanging on the wall across from the bed. There was a small table next to the bed and a chair with a thick blanket tossed over the arm standing near the door.

 

Rose’s fingers traced the blanket over her own body thoughtfully. It was a thick weave and very comfortable, but the texture was a little off. She began to shift and marveled at how easy it felt. Her body was relaxed and strong. She frowned and rolled her shoulders experimentally before freezing in confusion. Slowly she looked down at herself and gasped. Raising her arms, she brought her hands out in front of her and stared at them.

 

“This is impossible,” Rose whispered to herself. “Impossible.”

 

Gone were the age marks that had doted her skin for more than a decade. The skin that had been tight against her old bones and shown ever sinew was now soft and clear. For a moment she couldn’t understand what she was seeing. Her hands flew up to her face and moved over the soft and young skin. A finger traced over her neck where a thin scar had once been, but she couldn’t feel in now.

 

Confused, Rose stood quickly and looked down at her, moving her hands over her stomach and waist. She looked around the room for a mirror desperately, but her eyes landed on the bowl of water. Rose walked towards it, crossing the room quickly, but she hesitated for a moment. Every possible situation was flying through her brain, every alien that might have reserved her age or worse put her mind into another body. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, focusing on the beat of her heart and the tingling feeling in her arms and legs as her blood pumped. Not some kind of android then.

 

Opening her eyes, Rose examined the bowl of water for a moment, vaguely remembering a blonde girl washing her face. The young woman’s explanation came back to her and Rose frowned, biting at her lower lip in worry and confusion. None it made sense. How could she have crashed anywhere? What had happened to her after… Rose leaned over the bowl of water and gasped as her young face was reflected in the surface. She hadn’t looked like that in fifty years.

 

Moving back against the wall, Rose struggled to breathe and calm down. She took deep breaths and slowly released them as she tried to focus. Panic and confusion was crawling at her chest, but she closed her eyes and forced it back. She hadn’t survived so long by giving into the poisonous panic of fear. There was an explanation and she would find it. Rose repeated this to herself several times and she kept taking slow breaths.

 

A noise from beyond the door made her eyes flash open and she looked towards the doorway. Moving quietly but quickly, Rose moved towards the door and adjusted her body into a defensive stance ready to defend herself. The door opened and an older woman with long dark hair pulled down tightly stepped into the room, smiling at her. The woman was humanoid, but definitely alien with very large green eyes and a slight reddish tint to her skin. She blinked in surprise at Rose and looked a bit alarmed before she smiled and relaxed. However, her smile seemed genuine and Rose eased out of her defensive stance, trying to smile in return.

 

“Hello,” the woman said slowly.

 

“You speak English?” Rose asked in surprise, confused and hopeful about the development.

 

“I learned Jenny,” the woman said slowly, missing a word.

 

Rose paused and nodded, remembering the girl who had spoken English. The woman moved toward her slowly and scanned her with her eye. Rose tensed up automatically under the observation before forcing her muscles to relax.

 

“You are well?”

 

“Yes,” Rose nodded. It was mostly true after all. “Thank you.”

 

The woman nodded and smiled. She reached out her hand with the palm up and waited. The warm smile did not change and after a moment Rose took the offered hand.

 

 

“I Zedia,” the woman told her with a nod as she pointed to herself with her free hand.

 

“I am Rose,” she answered politely.

 

Zedia led her into the next room and gestured for her sit down. Sitting down in a short chair next to a low table, Rose watched Zedia as she opened moved about the space. It was much like the bedroom through pots and pans hung from the wall and above her head was some kind of herbal drying rack. The scent of something sweet hung in the air and through a small window a soft breeze was blowing through the house. Rose felt fresher just taking in the smell and the breeze against her renewed skin felt marvelous.

 

Her hostess didn’t say much as she moved about the kitchen area. Zedia pulled out a small bowl with what looked like corn flakes in it which made Rose smile. She set the bowl in front of Rose with a wide reassuring smile before slipping through another doorway with a mug of some sort in her hand. She returned a few moments latera and set the cup which was now filled with clear water down in front of her.

 

“Zeti,” Zedia said firmly with a smile.

 

Rose blinked at her in confusion and tried not to frown at the strange word. She was trying to sort out if the woman was giving her an instruction or trying to tell her the name for the food or their word for water.

 

“It means eat,” a voice said from the main door.

 

Turning quickly, Rose caught sight of the blond girl who had tended to her standing in the doorway. Rose recalled that her name was Jenny and noted that the girl was covered in dust with lines of grease on her right cheek. Jenny offered Rose a small and motioned to the bowl.

 

“Zedia doesn’t speak much English,” she explained calmly. “I usually speak their language with them.”

 

Rose glanced at the food and then at Zedia who was still smiling. Smiling in return, Rose began to slowly eat some of the dry flakes. They didn’t have much of a taste, but reminded her of rice crisps. Zedia nodded in satisfaction and walked across the room to Jenny. She gestured to Jenny’s clothes and pointed to the back room. Jenny blushed slightly and nodded to Zedia before glancing at Rose.

 

“I’ll be right back,” Jenny promised.

 

Nodding, Rose watched the girl disappear into the back of the building. She ate the flakes slowly and couldn’t help, but look at her restored hands. The last thing she remembered was being at home in her old bedroom with her kids and grandkids. Her entire body had been frail and tired. She had called her family to say goodbye and then now she was here, where ever here was. Rose went over her old missions in her head and everything John had ever told her, had someone they used to know done something? Swallowing down a sip of water, Rose pushed the thoughts aside and looked up to see Jenny coming towards her.

 

“I’m glad you’re feeling better,” Jenny told her with a smile as she sat down next to Rose, “You really surprised us when you came down.”

 

“Do you know what happened?” Rose asked her trying not to sound too eager or confused.

 

“I was hoping you could tell us,” Jenny admitted with open curiosity. “You weren’t a ship when you crash and you have no injuries. I’ve never seen anything like this before and believe me I’ve seen some weird things.”

 

“So have I,” Rose told her as she held back a sigh. “So where are we?”

 

 

“Keribos,” Jenny informed with a small shrug. “It’s the fifth planet around this systems star and it is in the Andromeda Galaxy.”

 

“I’m from Earth,” Rose admitted to the girl. “Do you know where that is?”

 

“Yes,” Jenny told her looking more excited. “I was on my way there. A friend of my father’s is from there and I was hoping to find him.”

 

“I see,” Rose answered gently. “Do you know what year it is on Earth?”

 

Jenny shook her head and shrugged. “I was born on Messaline, well I was created on Messaline.” she explained. “I’ve never been to Earth myself.”

 

Gasping softly, Rose stopped eating and looked Jenny carefully. Her eyes traced the girls’ features trying to take everything in. She lingered on the blue eyes for a moment as a sense of wonder, awe and disbelief bubbled in her chest.

 

“Messaline?” she repeated carefully.

 

“Yeah,” Jenny told her, frowning at the look on Rose’s face, “There was a war. Both sides were using machines to clone soldiers from their populations. My Dad arrived and they made me from him before he knew what was going on.”

 

“Then-” Rose shook her head and stood up quickly. “Oh my God, you’re Jenny,” she whispered in shock.

 

“I told you that already,” Jenny said slowly as she stood up and reached for the older woman. “Are you okay?”

 

“No, you’re Jenny. You’re the Doctor’s daughter!” Rose exclaimed with wide eyes.

 

“Wait you know my Dad?”

 

“Yeah,” Rose paused for a moment to catch her breath. “Yes I did, I mean I do,” Rose told her, struggling to explain properly. Taking a deep breath, she sat down and started over. “I used to travel with the Doctor and I spent fifty-five years married to a clone of him in an alternative reality.”

 


	6. Connected

Wolf Signal

Chapter Six: Connected

by Lumendea

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

“I used to travel with the Doctor and I spent fifty-five years married to a clone of him in an alternative reality.”

 

The room was completely still as Jenny stared awkwardly at Rose and tried to process what she had said. Rose stayed quiet, fully aware that she had dropped something huge on the girl and waited patiently.

 

Finally Jenny took a deep breath and softly asked, “Can you repeat and explain that please?”

 

“Right,” Rose said softly with a small smile tugging at her lips. “Well I suppose I should start at the beginning.” She took a deep breath, a sad look in her eyes, but after a moment she started talking. “I met the Doctor when I was nineteen years old in London, that’s a city on Earth when some aliens were invading. After that I traveled with him for a few years,” Rose paused and Jenny noticed the far off look. “I traveled with him until I was pulled into another universe.”

 

“People can travel to other universes?” Jenny asked, shivering with excitement.

 

“Normally no,” Rose quickly informed her even as she couldn’t help but smile at the girl’s enthusiasm. “The wall between realities had been worn down and in order to close the wall back to protect both universes the Doctor and I had to send a bunch of aliens into the Void between universes. Well to make a long story short I got stuck on the other side, in another universe.”

 

“Did you meet an alternative of my Dad then?” Jenny asked as she leaned forward on her knees, raw excitement running through her.

 

Rose noted Jenny’s expression and gave a bittersweet smile, “You look like him when you do that.” Rose reached out a hand and touched Jenny’s hair before she could think better of it. “I’m guessing the hair came from his fifth body. He told me he had blond hair then.” She noted Jenny’s confusion and added, “I’ll explain regeneration to you later.”

 

Rose sighed and brushed some of her hair behind her ear, “A few years later the stars began fading in my world and we became aware of the walls between universes collapsing. I went through the void to find the Doctor and we met up just as Earth was being made into a piece of universe destroying machinery. He was shot by an alien called a Dalek and was about to regenerate . . . ” Seeing the confusion return Rose shook her head, “Okay Jenny, regeneration is a quirk of time lords that allows them to rebuild every cell in their body from a new randomly created genetic code when they are fatally wounded. In essence they discard their current dominate genetic code and create a new one from recessive genetic material. It happens in an instant and their appearance and personality change to a certain point, but all the basic character traits of them and memories remain.”

 

“Their face changes?” Jenny asked suddenly, “Are you sure?”

 

 

“I saw it happen to him once and he explained the full story behind it to me later,” Rose told her, noting the odd look on the girl’s face. Rose reached out and brushed Jenny’s cheek softly. “What is it sweetie?” She asked gently, watching Jenny’s face carefully.

 

Jenny smiled at the affection, but the worry in Rose’s eyes pulled her attention back to the odd fact presented to her. “I died on Messaline,” she reminded Rose nervously.

 

“I know,” Rose said before correctly herself, “I mean he told me that you died . . . right in his arms. He thought about you a lot.”

 

“I don’t know what happened,” Jenny told her in a soft voice. “I just woke up, my friends said I’d been dead for hours and that Dad had left so I took a ship and…”

 

“Started running?” Rose asked with a smile.

 

“Yeah lots and lots of running,” Jenny agreed with a dazzling grin and a nod. “So Dad’s face is different now?”

 

“No, well actually I don’t know. Let me finish telling you what happened. The Doctor started to regenerate, but directed the energy into a hand that had been cut off from him before,” Rose held up a hand to silence Jenny’s question. “No you can’t regrow limbs,” she informed Jenny. “It was cut off right after another regeneration so luckily he had enough energy to regrow it. That energy stayed in the hand, until it was disturbed by Donna. Do you remember her?”

 

“Of course, she named me,” Jenny told Rose before a worried expression crossed her face. “Do you know what happened to her?”

 

“I’ll get there. According to my Doctor, this caused a metacrisis and made that hand grow into a full grown human Timelord hybrid. That hybrid saved me and the Doctor with Donna’s help.” Rose paused for a moment to collect her thoughts. “The walls between universes began to close so the Doctor took me and the clone to the other universe. That was the last time I saw him. My Doctor, he took the name of John Noble and joined me working at Torchwood to protect Earth. We got married and had three children together Donna, Jack and Adric.”

 

Jenny was still for a moment, taking Rose in carefully with the new information. “You loved my father didn’t you?” She asked softly with wide innocent looking eyes that reminded Rose so much of Donna’s that it hurt.

 

“Very much, I told him before we were separated,” Rose answered in a sad, but clear voice. She was silent for a moment before she added softly, “He loves me, or at least he did.”

 

“Then why didn’t you stay with him?” Jenny asked, a blend of anger, confusion and sorrow churning in her stomach.

 

“Jenny,” Rose called gently to calm the girl. “Your father may have loved me, but he would never have acted on it or told me,” she informed the young woman sadly.” He knew that so when the universe presented him with a human version of himself... he knew that while he couldn’t love me, John would and that I could love him.”

 

“Three kids,” Jenny whispered, leaning back against the wall. “Would they be my siblings?” she asked in a small voice.

 

 

“I guess so,” Rose said blinking, “Sort of at least, since you do have a lot of genetic information in common. Though I’m not sure how a DNA test would have registered that relationship.”

 

“Then we need to figure out how to get you back to your universe,” Jenny said suddenly. “I’m sure your family and your Doctor are worried.” While her voice sounded strong and determined, the sad expression was still in place.

 

“That’s the other things Jenny. John and I were married for fifty-five years before he passed away an old man,” Rose told Jenny gently. “The last thing I remember before waking up here is falling asleep in my bed with my children and grandchildren around me. I was eighty-three years old and I was an old woman.”

 

“Then how?” Jenny asked, looking over Rose’s features in shock. “How did this happen?”

 

“I don’t know Jenny,” Rose said taking the girl’s hand, “But I am certain that I died in that world and I am certain that we need to find some way of contacting your father.”

 

………………..

 

Sitting down gracefully in his desk, Jack could feel the Doctor watching him and could feel the man’s impatience for an explanation. Mickey shut the office door behind them and pulled out a small notepad with dates and places written on it. Handing it to the Doctor, Mickey sat down and waited for Jack to start explaining.

 

“That is a list Doctor, of all the times Mickey and I have crossed the phrase Bad Wolf in the last few months,” the Captain informed him as calmly as he could, even as nervous energy rushed through him.

 

Shaking his head, the Doctor tossed the notepad on the desk with a small huff. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his coat and adopted an almost cold neutral expression. “It is just an echo Jack. Bad Wolf has been encircling me for years on my travels, here and there. Ignore it.”

 

“Ignore it,” Jack hissed in alarm rising out of his desk chair. “Ignore the message of a very powerful being?”

 

“A very powerful being that didn’t know what she was doing,” the Doctor told him with a solemn face, betraying no emotion. “She was making a bread crumb path and tossed some pieces too far.” Jack might have yelled at him for that were it not for the way the Doctor’s voice broke slightly at the end of that statement.

 

“Don’t underestimate her,” Mickey put in quickly drawing the Doctor’s attention. “She was the first one to notice that the walls were falling and she was one good agent for that universes Torchwood. Rose just as herself was clever and determined, powers not needed.”

 

“I know that,” the Doctor snapped, his neutral expression beginning to creak. “But that’s it. It is over. She’s living a good life in another universe,” the Doctor added in a weaker voice, his shoulders slumping. “She’s happy and safe.”

 

“Yeah with a human you,” Jack reminded the Doctor giving him a sharp look. “Interesting tactic Doctor. When you manage to get rid of the girl, but she comes back you make a consolation clone to make sure she stays away the next time you dump her,” Jack said loudly, watching the Doctor’s tensing shoulders and darkening face.

 

Jack didn’t flinch as the Doctor stepped forward with dark and angry eyes, grabbing Jack’s collar tightly in his fist and half pulling him across the desk. The Doctor glared at him and Jack could see the anger radiating off of the Time Lord, but refused to cower even in the face of the Oncoming Storm.

 

“Harkness,” the Doctor said in a tight low voice, “You don’t understand what you talking about.”

 

“I understand that at Rose Tyler loved you Doctor, completely,” Jack answered loudly keeping his voice even. “I understand that Rose Tyler took in the Time Vortex and gained the power to affect all of time and space. I understand that she fought tooth and nail to protect you and that she never wanted to leave you. Do you understand all of that?”

 

Releasing Jack, the Doctor shoved him back into his chair. He stepped away, glowing under his breath. As he moved away from Jack, he caught sight of the notebook and glared at it before looking over at Mickey.

 

“It is just an echo,” the Doctor informed him sternly, almost daring him to argue. “Just a memory left over to our universe as it has nothing else of her. Let it be.”

 

The Doctor said nothing else, but turned and walked out of the office toward the TARDIS. Martha gave him a worried look, but said nothing at the expression on his face. Jumping onto the lift, the Doctor used the sonic screwdriver to go up and tried to relax. As he reached the surface, the Doctor exhaled slowly and unlocked the TARDIS door, planning on setting up a time to meet Natalie and then getting some repairs done. Anything to get his mind off Bad Wolf.


	7. What It Means

Wolf Signal

Chapter Seven: What It Means

by Lumendea

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

The warm afternoon sun was shining in through the large picture window and the familiar surroundings made Natalie feel completely at ease. She’d almost forgotten what that was like traveling with the Doctor. It was just one adventure after another with him. Tossing her head back, Natalie laughed loudly at her brother’s story of his most recent adventure while on a business trip to Swansea and barely noticed her mobile ring. The fourth ring finally captured her attention and Natalie pulled it out with a slight grimace, hoping the Doctor wasn’t already calling her back to the TARDIS.

 

She glanced at it quickly and noted the number for the one and only Captain Jack flashing. The sense of worry quickly transformed into a sense of dread and exasperation, wondering just what trouble the Captain had gotten the Doctor into this time. She liked Jack just fine and respected him even, but she knew he was trouble from the second he walked over to her with that smile.

 

“Sorry Lee, I need to take this,” Natalie told her brother warmly as she stood up from the sofa.

 

Her brother nodded his understanding and smiled when their father walked back into the room with a pair of beers. Giving her father a small wave as he took her vacated seat, Natalie quickly excused herself from the room and walked down the corridor of their house until the laughter of her father and brother dimmed in the background.

 

“Hello Natalie,” Jack’s smooth voice greeted as she answered. “We didn’t have time to chat. You swanned away so quickly my darling girl.”

 

“Chatting with you is dangerous Harkness,” Natalie teased him grinning widely. She could hear the smile in his voice and it helped her relax a tiny bit though she didn’t forget her initial concerns. “So is everything alright?” she asked more seriously.

 

“Um yeah about that,” Jack said with a waver in his voice. “Natalie the Doctor probably won’t be in a good mood when you see him next,” he told her, sounding a bit like he was apologizing.

 

“What do you mean?” Natalie asked; sighing into the phone and rubbing her forehead as a headache began to come on. She’d just known something like this would happen when Jack called. While the Doctor was fond of is former companion they always seemed to set each other off.

 

“I had some news for him that he didn’t want to hear,” Jack explained. She could just see the shrug through the mobile. “Wasn’t on purpose I promise, but it was necessary.”

 

Natalie paused and turned the statement over in her head for a moment. The hair on her neck stood on end at his words. There was something that he wasn’t saying. Something that she just knew she was going to get caught in the middle of.

 

“What is it Jack?” Natalie demanded with a clear note of displeasure and warning in her voice.

 

“Natalie, leave it alone. Don’t ask him about it,” Jack told her firmly. “Just leave it alone. I don’t want you to caught between the Doctor and I on this fight,” he added more gently with a heavy sigh. “He’s being stubborn and a bit stupid is all.”

 

“But shouldn’t you at least tell me what to avoid talking about,” Natalie pointed out, both from worry and curiosity. “I don’t want to stumble into a sore subject. He’s got more than enough of those as it is.”

 

“Natalie, trust me he won’t touch the subject at all. Don’t ask and he’ll make sure that it doesn’t come up,” Jack reassured her suddenly sounding very serious and very tired. “Look enjoy your visit with your family, but do me a favor and if you see anything about the Bad Wolf be careful,” he added trying more sound more confident.

 

“Bad Wolf,” Natalie snorted despite herself, “Like the fairy tale?”

 

 

“It actually means something very different, but yeah,” Jack told her and she could imagine the smirk on his face. “Just keep your eyes open for me, okay?”

 

“Let me guess Captain Jack, it’s dirty.”

 

“Well, actually a bit,” Jack told her with a chuckle. “And not because of me. The Bad Wolf in old literature and I mean before the stories were watered down symbolized the wild and untamed. Literature shows the Wolf as being evil, but it is the return to the more... I can’t say primitive because it wasn’t really. Uncomplicated and unsuperficial world of nature. It is instinct, the survival drive and the maintaining of the natural world by the removal of the sick and weak in favor of the strong. The wolf was balance of nature residing in the power of one massive animal and that frightened medieval humans,” Jack explained calmly, sounding like he was a reciting a long memorized speech.

 

“So what does it mean here? Why should I be careful?” Natalie asked, shaking her head in confusion. “What are you on about Jack?”

 

“It won’t hurt you,” Jack reassured her quickly over the phone. “But it is powerful and operates on a different intellectual level than you or the Doctor. It appears usually as words written or spoken in times of trouble so just be careful.”

 

“What is it Jack? An alien?” Natalie asked with a deepening frown. “You make it sound alive.”

 

“Natalie, I’m not completely sure. It is an... awareness throughout time and space that is centered on the Doctor,” Jack rushed to explain, sounding unsure and wary. “I don’t know what actual power it has beyond the warning words. The Doctor confessed that he’s been seeing them, but he doesn’t seem to pay them any mind.”

 

“Okay, do you want me to say anything to the Doctor?”

 

“No,” Jack insisted before sighing loudly once more, his frustration leaking through. “I can’t make him deal with this. He’ll just have to deal with it on his own, he’s made that choice. Just be careful,” Jack’s tone was firm and it was clear that he wasn’t telling her anything else. “It won’t hurt you since the Doctor cares about you, but it isn’t something I or the Doctor can really predict.”

 

“I will,” Natalie told him after a long moment of silence. “Thanks for the warning Jack. I promise that I’ll be careful,” Natalie assured him before hanging up. She frowned at her phone as she studied it in the palm of her hand wondering just what was going on and how it might affect her life with the Doctor. Jack said it wasn’t dangerous, but then again Jack was an adventurer at heart and much more comfortable with danger than she ever would be. “Bad Wolf,” she said softly to herself before shaking her head and putting the matter out of her mind. At least for the time being.

 

……………….

 

Back at the Hub, Jack sighed and put the phone the cradle before leaning back in his chair. Rubbing his eyes, he barely contained a groan of frustration and took a long deep breath in an attempt to regain some semblance of control. As his hands dropped away from his face he was greeted by the sight of Ianto with a cup of coffee for him and a concerned look. With a small smile, Jack accepted the coffee and took a long sip.

 

“I take it that the visit did not go as you hoped,” Ianto observed, disguising his worry in his usual smooth and calm voice.

 

“He’s a stubborn fool,” Jack remarked with a grin that did not reach his eyes. “An absolute over evolved idiot.”

 

Ianto considered Jack’s anger for a moment and took a sip of his own coffee thoughtfully. He sat down in the small chair in front of Jack’s desk and took a moment tidying up some of the scattered papers. “That may not be fair Jack,” he told Jack slowly and softly. “To you most certainly he would be a fool, but he’s not like humans and he’s not like you.”

 

 

“I know that Ianto. He’s a Timelord and a-”

 

“More than that Jack,” Ianto interrupted quickly. “Two hearts-”

 

“I know that Ianto,” Jack grumbled into his cup of coffee.

 

“Two hearts,” Ianto repeated, “Two hearts can break twice as much and twice as often. I imagine that after a while the fear of that pain would become difficult to overcome.”

 

Jack fell silent and only gave a small nod as Ianto stood up and walked out of the office. Sighing, Jack watched him for a moment before picking up the notebook and looking at it. He counted up the number of times that he had seen and heard the words recently. The frequency had greatly increased and he couldn’t help but felt that it was simply the dramatic music before the massive explosion. With a sigh he tossed the notebook back on his desk and leaned back to look up at the ceiling.

 

“Miss you Rose,” Jack said softly as if she could hear him. “You were my best friend, you had such faith in me and I’m trying to live up to that. But bloody hell why did you have to pick such a stubborn one.”

 

There was no answer of course and Jack shook his head at himself. Sitting up straight once more, he set his coffee to the side, grabbed a pen and began working his way through the latest reports and requests, making a point of approving Mickey’s weapon request. After dealing with the Doctor the man had earned it.

 


	8. Curious Girl

Wolf Signal

Chapter Eight: Curious Girl

by Lumendea

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

The next day on Keribos was warm and bright as the yellow star shined down. Birds were signing outside with soft chirps that were similar to those on Earth, but just different enough to spur on curiosity. Hours of Rose insisting that she was strong enough to go with Jenny to the ship had paid off and she’d been released from the prison of bed rest.  

 

Thankfully the argument of being separated from the only person who actually understood what she was saying had won the day. While Rose certainly wasn’t afraid of being alone and was confident that she’d manage on her own she was loath to let Jenny out of her sight, especially after the realizations of the earlier night. She and Jenny had spoken only a little more of the Doctor before Rose gave into sleep.

 

The ship was gradually moving farther from being wreckage to being an actual ship capable of leaving the planet. Even Rose who had never seen such a design before was able to tell at first glance what the different parts of the ship were. Jenny had preened under her compliments of the scaffolding system she’d built around the ship and the clean design of her repairs. It had been enough to make Rose laugh brightly. Jenny explained the basics of how it worked and was clearly proud of her own additions to it over the last two years that she had been traveling in it. Unable to help with the tinkering, Rose had sat down on a rock and watched Jenny’s progress while entertaining her with stories of the Doctor.

 

“Seriously,” Jenny laughed from inside the cockpit. “He really just stuck his fingers into the jar right there in the kitchen?!”

 

“He’s lucky Mrs. Webber was so distracted,” Rose replied with a fond smile. “That habit never completely went away in my world. I remember when I was making Donna’s first birthday cake; he just walked over and started eating the frosting while my back was turned. I had to make an entire new batch. When I started that batch he happily took over the original batch and licked it all up with me right there working on the cake. It was completely ridiculous.”

 

“That was the clone right?”

 

“Yes, the Doctor has no knowledge of that life,” Rose admitted, her smile falling away. She’d been trying to avoid thinking about that. “It’s separate from his own.”

 

“So I get the ship working, we fly to Earth and hope that we can find Dad,” Jenny informed her gently, clearly having picked up on Rose’s distress.

 

“We also hope that it isn’t a bad year,” Rose reminded her. “Provided we land after the 1970s, we’ll probably be okay. The Doctor leaves a wide trail if you know how to look and I know enough about that era that we shouldn’t have trouble.” Rose frowned and nibbled at her lip in thought. “And hopefully we aren’t too far into the future, my knowledge there is sporadic and would make it harder to find the Doctor.”

 

“I’d rather find him,” Jenny announced. “And we will Rose, just wait and see.”

 

“I’d like to find him too. This is the second time I’ll be tracing him,” Rose agreed with a sigh as she leaned back against a sun warmed rock.

 

“When was the other time?” Jenny asked, poking her head out of the cockpit into view, reminding Rose of a merecat or her father when he tinkered underneath the TARDIS controls. Or John whenever he lost himself in some project at Torchwood. It made Rose’s heart ache.

 

“Oh Jenny that’s a long story,” Rose told her, smiling sadly.

 

“I’m rewiring the central cooling system Rose,” Jenny informed before ducking back out of view. “I’ve got time,” she called out of the cockpit.

 

 

“Jenny, there’s so much you don’t know about your father,” Rose told her shaking her head. “I’m not sure where to begin.”

 

The girl lifted her head once again, coming up further where Rose could see her shrug and look down at the tools in her hand. For a moment the blonde girl looked a bit lost and the eager expression on her face faded. She looked so small and helpless that Rose almost stood up to go and hug her.

 

“I don’t know much about him Rose,” Jenny said softly. “We didn’t spend much time together before… well you know.”

 

“He told me,” Rose told her gently. “John told me all about it when I told him that I was pregnant. He never really moved past it. Throughout his life he was always very aware of the children and protective. I wish he had known that you were alive.”

 

“I’m sorry,” Jenny apologized, lowering her eyes.

 

“Oh sweetie, it’s not your fault,” Rose insisted warmly.

 

“Why do you do that?” Jenny asked tilting her head.

 

“Do what?”

 

“Call me sweetie? I’m not your daughter,” Jenny reminded her, shrugging again with her face flushing slightly.

 

“Not exactly,” Rose admitted. “Can’t help it I guess Jenny. I had three children and five grandchildren…” Rose trailed off and chuckled to herself, “It’s a mother habit when confronted with a younger person you feel connected to. I can stop if you want. Well I’ll try anyways, it isn’t something I can just switch off, but-”

 

“No,” Jenny interrupted quickly with a grin, “No I don’t mind at all.” There was a pause until Jenny added, “Tell me about Dad. Tell me anything you can about his world, he didn’t talk about it with me even though for a moment I thought he was going to.”

 

“It was called Gallifrey,” Rose told her gently in a faraway voice. “His people were Gallifreians, but those who mastered an understanding of time or in your father’s case managed to least pass the exams were Time Lords or Time Ladies.” Rose chuckled and sighed softly, leaning back against the rock once more. “He wasn’t very happy on the planet, complained that there were far too many rules and restrictions. The Time Lords were thinkers, but not the most creative people. Despite that… well your father misses them I suppose. It was a complicated relationship.”

 

Jenny smiled as Rose recited off the appearance of Gallifrey. It sounded beautiful and she could tell that Rose was quoting her father’s exact words. Even as Rose explained some of the basic history of the Gallifreians, Jenny could hear a note of sorrow in her voice, shared pain, but also some wistfulness for the planet’s beauty. Reaching down, Jenny pulled another compartment open and set to work. Rose smiled from her seat and shook her head while speaking. It seemed like she was telling bedtime stories to her grand kids all over again.

 

Rose told Jenny about Gallifrey, the Doctor’s theft, or borrowing as he insisted to call it, of the TARDIS to take his granddaughter Susan away from the planet for her own safety and his first real encounters with humans. She recalled the stories as John had described them to her over the years from his adventures with Susan, Ian and Barbara to his time with UNIT. Jenny wasn’t impressed with the Time Lords when she learned that they’d forced the Doctor to regenerate from his second body into his third body, stating it sounded too much like an execution. Rose was inclined to agree with her on that point. While regeneration meant he wasn’t dead forever, that personality was lost forever for a crime that Rose didn’t think was a crime.

 

Rose had to stop talking over lunch and instead made Jenny tell her more about the planet they were current on. But as soon as lunch was past Jenny was begging for more stories. The day passed in a flash, testing Rose’s stamina to talk all day and she was a little relived when the darkening of the sky made it necessary to call an end to Jenny’s work.

 

 

“Come on Jenny,” Rose called up to the ship with her voice cracking slightly. “You’ve done all you can for today and my throat is killing me.” She reached for the canteen of water that was almost empty and slurped down the last few drops.

 

“I suppose,” Jenny said with a sigh as she swung herself out of the cockpit onto the scaffolding. She leapt to the ground with a graceful jump and a smile. “I’m getting so close to being done,” she announced as she rubbed her hands together eagerly.

 

“Don’t rush too much,” Rose warned her gently. “I’d rather spend an extra month here than have it explode in our faces.”

 

“Don’t you have faith in me?” Jenny asked with a raised eyebrow and a fake little pout.

 

“I know where your tinkering genes come from,” Rose reminded her with a wide smile. She reached out and tapped Jenny’s nose. “He may be brilliant at jiggery pokery, but he’s had plenty of things blow up in his face, literally.”

 

Jenny laughed and grabbed Rose’s hand as they worked their way down the hills toward the village. They walked in companionable silence with Jenny swinging their joined hands. Rose enjoyed the quiet and breathed in the fresh air, still marveling at how strong she felt. The path to the ship was only a mild little hike, but before her rejuvenation it would have been a painful task to climb.

 

“So,” Jenny asked slowly in an attempt to casual. “Are you excited about seeing him?”

 

“I’m not sure, Jenny. It will be strange seeing the Doctor again,” Rose admitted after a moment of thought. “He looks just like the man I spent forty-eight years married to, but he won’t have any of those memories and I’m not the same as he remembers me. No matter what it is going to be a bit awkward on both sides.”

 

“Do you love Dad?” Jenny asked, her voice sounding very young and hopeful.

 

“It’s complicated Jenny,” Rose answered, not daring to look at Jenny and see the wide and hopeful eyes of a child who was thinking that she was to have a family. “But I promise that I’ll do everything I can to help you find your father.”

 

“Do you love him?” Jenny asked once more, a bit more insistently.

 

There was a long pause and Rose sighed, surrendering to the truth. “Yes,” Rose admitted and rubbed her eyes with her free hand. “John and I loved each other very much and we were happy with our life and our family, but we never stopped worrying about him. I never wanted him to be alone and John always felt a little guilty knowing what he had and what the Doctor wouldn’t let himself have. So yes even after all this time I do still love the Doctor.”

 

“I wonder what brought your back here?” Jenny questioned, shifting the topic to a less painful one and taking her eyes away from Rose. “Maybe dying in a world different from the one you were born in triggers…” Jenny trailed off and shook her head. “No that’s silly and Dad could have crossed through if that was the case cause that would mean that things remain connected,” she declared with a small frown. Jenny looked over at Rose just as they reached the village, “Do you have any thoughts?”

 

“I have a few,” Rose admitted softly, nodding slightly, “But nothing sure yet.”

 

Rose didn’t make any sign of sharing more information and wasn’t planning on it. The words Bad Wolf were echoing through her head, but Jenny wouldn’t know anything about that. Jenny was about to ask Rose what she thought might have caused her reappearance when Refiti walked up to them.

 

 

“Jenny,” he greeted with a smile before looking at Rose. He said some words to Jenny that Rose could not understand and Jenny nodded.

 

“Rose,” Jenny said turning to her. “The Elders would like to speak with you.”

 

“I expected that,” Rose told her before turning to Refiti, “Lead on.”


	9. Musings of the Future

Wolf Signal

Chapter Nine: Musings of the Future

by Lumendea

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Jenny gave Rose an encouraging smile as Refiti led her away from the younger girl. Despite here certainty that she wasn’t to be harmed Rose couldn’t shake a sense of unease and nervousness. Jenny spoke the language here far better than she and leaving the girl behind just felt wrong. What could the Elders have to discuss with her that they had prepared in English?

 

Regardless, Rose followed the older man into the heart of the village to a large building near the center of the village. A small square in front of it was occupied with several playing children who all looked up interest at her. A few of the nearby mothers were working on small looms set up before them also stopped their work and watched her as they passed. Rose felt the weight of their gaze and sped up her pace. It had taken years of being Pete Tyler’s heiress daughter before she got used to the attention people gave her in the other universe and years of training and experience in Torchwood to learn to be inconspicuous despite all that. Being seen so clearly by so many with open curiosity was strange.

 

Refiti pulled open one of the large double doors and motioned Rose into the large building. Nodding, Rose walked through the door and coughed at the heavy wave of incense that hit her nose. For a moment she was almost blind and had to blink several times in order to see clearly. She was in a massive room that must have filled the whole building with a high timber ceiling. Banners hung from the support beams above her head and the support posts lining the room were elegantly carved with distinct patterns and images. Instead of a wooden floor like most building this one had a polished grey stone floor with beautiful woven rugs all over the place.

 

“Welcome Bad Wolf,” a smooth warm voice said from across the room.

 

Turning her attention quickly to the far side of the room, Rose blinked in surprise as she took in a small raised dais on the far side of the room. Five elderly men and women seated on cushions with crossed legs up on the dais, all watching her. An empty cushion was in front of them and the man in the center of the elders motioned her to it.

 

“Please Bad Wolf sit,” the man said with a smile that was kind and genuine. “We welcome such an old friend of our world. Your return to our world is a sign of good fortune.”

 

Rose tried to keep her expression neutral as she sat down on the cushion and tucked her legs under her body. She glanced over the elders quickly, noting they were all watching her with calm if curious expressions. There was no sign of any malice towards her and Rose forced herself to relax.

 

Raising her chin, she politely said, “I prefer to be called Rose if you don’t mind.”

 

“As you wish Rose,” the old man said with a deep nod, “My name is Zethu, you knew my grandfather Fyerti on your last visit here with the Doctor.”

 

Rose bit her lip to stop from smiling. She knew she had never been here before so that meant it was the future, a future where she was traveling with the Doctor. The urge to cheer over most overwhelmed her, but was quickly followed with a wave of almost crippling fears. Breathing deeply, Rose focused on the mediation techniques she’d learned when her daughter had bullied her into yoga. Rose tried to think of something to say, but she was too distracted by the hundreds of tiny thoughts running through her mind.

 

“I am glad you have returned,” Zethu said gently as if he was aware of her inner struggle. “I knew that you would come to aid Jenny. She is one of your pack just like the Doctor.”

 

Rose blinked again at the odd references to the wolf and simply nodded. Finally she seemed to regain some control and trusted herself enough to answer, “Jenny and I shall be leaving soon to return to the Doctor.”

 

“We understand Bad Wolf,” Zethu replied with a deep nod of his head. “Your world is most glad to host you, but this is not your home and not your intended place. Should you require anything great goddess just name it and we will do all we can to bring it to you.”

 

“Uh thank you,” Rose told them grateful as the sense of nearly being overwhelmed hit her once again. She fixed a smile to her face, an almost pained one, but nodded to all of the elders in turn. They each nodded deeply, closer to a bow in return and Rose wondered about the whole ‘goddess’ thing they were on about. She carefully detangled her body and stood up. As she stepped off the dias and began to walk away Rose tried to think of something to say. “I’m going to find Jenny,” Rose told them as she reached the door feeling very uncomfortable, “Uh live long and prosper.”

 

The elders all bowed once more and as one voice replied, “Live long and prosper.”

 

Holding back a laugh, Rose shook her head at herself as she walked into the street. The air tasted fresh after the incense and Rose took a deep breath as the urge to giggle tickled at her chest. A soft laugh finally escaped her and Rose ran a hand through her dark blond hair.

 

“Well that was very goddess like,” she muttered to herself with a chuckle. “However I will impress them in the future clearly just lost its polish with that meeting.” She shook her head and stepped away from the building, trying to remember which way they’d come from. “Still gotta love time travel.”

 

Rose caught sight of a cart of vegetables that she remembered from the journey to the elders and headed up the well worn side street. She walked at a leisurely pace and looked over the houses. They looked very Tudor with their wooden supports and plaster walls with thatch roofs. But unlike the Tudor houses that Rose had seen in England these houses had painted support beams giving each house a splash of color. In many places the plaster had flecks of color mixed into it creating a random swirl of color here and there. Rose wondered vaguely what they used to achieve that. Boxes of plants and flowers were in front of each house in the sunshine and the streets were very clean. It was a pleasant sort of place and Rose felt the last of the tension from her odd meeting seeping out of her body.

 

“Rose!” Jenny’s voice called from up ahead.

 

Looking up, Rose caught sight of Jenny waiting by a house at the end of the street that she recognized as their current hosts. The blonde girl waved to her eagerly and Rose smiled softly, speeding up her pace. She didn’t need to as a moment later the girl all but bounced over her.

 

“That was quick,” Jenny observed with curiosity sparkling in her eyes. “What did they say? Was it important!? Oh it was the elders, it had to be important right?”

 

“Yeah I cut it a bit short, apparently your Dad and I come here in the future,” Rose informed Jenny with a smile and a fond look.

 

“Oh I thought their legend was the past,” Jenny told her with a slightly confused look.

 

“You knew?” Rose asked with wide eyes before she chuckled. “Oh well, no it hasn’t happened to me yet which means we do find your father.”

 

“Wonder why I’m not in the legend,” Jenny asked with a frown as they walked inside.

 

Rose smiled and took the girl’s hand to squeeze, “Trust me Jenny, as much you love you Dad you won’t want to spend all your life traveling with him. Every child wants to get away some day.”

 

“Speaking from experience?” Jenny asked with a raised eyebrow and a doubtful look.

 

“Oh Adric couldn’t get to Japan for school fast enough and when Jack started working for Torchwood he designed a program to block all his father’s communications and keep John from checking through his files,” Rose told her with a smile. “And Donna bless her heart was the worst of all, she went on to become a medical Doctor and outright told all the hospital staff that she did not take calls from her mother or her father while at work. She was very firm on that point.”

 

Jenny giggled and tightened her grip on Rose’s hand as they sat down and accepted their meals. Smiling, she turned back to Rose, “I think the ship will be ready to fly in a week.”

 

“One week,” Rose said to herself, “Seems like a long time now, shouldn’t after seventy-five years.”

 

“We’ll find him,” Jenny told her rocking on her heels of her feet. “You’ve got a future with him now.”

 

“Now there is a strange, but pleasant notion,” Rose said even as her stomach churned with confusion and unease at the thought.

 

……………….

 

Natalie took a deep breath as she unlocked the TARDIS door and put a smile on her face. She didn’t need the Doctor to know that Jack had called her, she reminded herself firmly as she eased the door open. If the Doctor wasn’t ready to deal with this Bad Wolf than she wouldn’t press the issue, it wasn’t her business anyway. Stepping inside, Natalie inhaled the thick scent of the TARDIS and her smile widened as the Doctor looked up at her with a welcoming grin as she shut the door behind her.

 

“Good visit?”

 

 

“Yeah,” Natalie replied with anod. “I told them that I was traveling with a friend, I decided to leave out the whole he’s an alien thing.”

 

“Probably smart,” the Doctor agreed. “Most people are terrified of aliens right now.”

 

“Yeah well that last few years haven’t exactly been good to planet Earth,” Natalie admitted with a slightly guilty expression. “Not that we’re not grateful to you, well those of us who know what you’ve done for u.”

 

“It’s still here,” the Doctor said with a shrug which told Natalie to drop the subject.

 

“I’ll just put my stuff away and then we can go find a planet to explore.”

 

The Doctor looked up at her carefully as she walked back toward her room and sighed. Something was off with Natalie, he decided quickly. Something had made her uncomfortable with him. He hated when that happened and sighed again, louder with time. He rubbed his eyes in a mix of fatigue and annoyance. Natalie was trying too hard which meant that she had either decided on one last trip before moving home again or that Jack had told her about their conversation. He didn’t like either option and didn’t want to consider which one he liked least.

 

Natalie was a fine companion. She was clever and curious with a strong sense of right and wrong. Solid head on her shoulders too, knew her own limits and accepted them while still wanting to learn new things and push herself. He’d never traveled with an architect before: scientists, historians, students and even a flight attendant, but never someone who ooh and awed over the buildings before. It had made a nice change, something new to focus on, something new to really really look at. Still as much as he didn’t want her to leave, he also didn’t want to talk about anything connected to the Bad Wolf or Rose, period.

 

“Alright Doctor,” Natalie said as she returned to the console room. “Where to now?” she asked pleasantly, rubbing her hands together.

 

The Doctor considered asking her, he really did, but in the end he decided that what was going through Natalie’s head was something he didn’t want to know.

 

“How about the planet Artivi Four?”

 

“What’s there?”

 

“Let’s find out!”


	10. Adrift

Wolf Signal

Chapter Ten: Adrift

by Lumendea

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Rolling her stiff shoulders, Rose eased herself off the scaffolding and into the small back passenger seat of Jenny’s ship. It was tight, but as she leaned back into the seat she was pleasantly surprised by the padding quality and the support it provided. A soft breath escaped her and she looked around curiously. It was located in a small alcove between instruments and controls that gave her access to some of the instruments, but it was a stretch as everything was designed to be within reach of the pilot.

 

Jenny herself was in the captain’s chair with a huge and familiar grin on her face as she set the controls. Every time she turned to check a reading or hit a button Rose could see the manic smile on her profile and the spark in her blue eyes. For a few minutes she contended herself just watching that expression, remembering her husband and children and the moments they had such an expression on their faces.

 

“You look like him when you do that,” Rose remarked as she tightened her restraints and double checked the position of her head.

 

She could just see the scaffolding being pulled away from the ship as Jenny turned and looked up at her.

 

“Thanks I think,” Jenny replied with a soft giggle before she sighedand turned back to the front controls, “I’m going to miss this planet a little,” she admitted as the last of scaffolding fell away and the group of locals began moving away from the ship. A few turned and waved to them as they hurried down the path.

 

Rose and Jenny both waved in return before Jenny starting activating more systems and the ship hummed louder and louder.

 

“You can always visit,” Rose pointed out as the ship shuddered around them.

 

“Nah,” Jenny sighed with a shake of her head, “I don’t think so.”

 

Rose nodded her understanding even though Jenny was turned away from her. She knew the girl had her father’s wanderlust and was unwilling to stay in one place long when there was so much else to see and do. Jenny had thrown herself into repairing the ship and preparing it for launch as a way to cope with being stuck in one place. If the tension and excited shaking in the girl’s hands was any indication, she was ready to be running again.

 

Rose set her head back and braced herself as Jenny started the engines and laughed. The soft hum became a roar as the ship shook around them. Jenny’s fingers moved quickly and gracefully over several more controls before they settled on the main thruster control. She saw Jenny take a deep breath, hit one more button and move the thruster lever which released a monstrous roar from the engines below them. The ship jumped off the ground with a deafening growl and the sound of shaking tres.

 

Closing her eyes, Rose gripped the edges of her seat as the ship launched off the ground and swung itself to point straight up in one fast almost violent move. She shuddered as the G-forces pushed her harder to the back of her seat and she noticed that she couldn’t hear Jenny over the roaring of the engine. Breathing in, Rose promised herself that she would never complain about even the bumpiest TARDIS flights again. She managed to turn her head just enough to look out the window as the sky around them became darker and darker with no ground in sight and she slammed her eyes closed as she tried to breathe. There were a few moments of resistance and then suddenly she was able to breathe and the pressure vanished from her chest. Rose opened her eyes and looked out the cockpit windows.

 

They were properly in space now with inky blackness surrounding them and thousands of stars drifting past. Rose felt a bit lighter even as the ship zoomed past one of the planet’s moons. Jenny tilted the controls and for a moment the rays of the sun shined into the cockpit before their graceful arch turned them back away from it. Her eyes traced over the stars as a wide smile took over her face.

 

“Wow,” Rose breathed softly nearing tears, “I’d forgotten how beautiful it is up here.”

 

“I missed this,” Jenny admitted as she entered the coordinates, her own voice sounding a bit shaky. “You sure we should go to Earth Rose? According to my computer system the year is like 5023 or something close to that.”

 

“Yikes,” Rose grimaced, but she considered it. “But it is one of the few planets that the Doctor visits most often. We’ll look after each other until we can form a solid plan”

 

“Okay,” Jenny agree as she adjusted the controls and leaned back in her own chari. “We’ll be there in thirty-two hours then.”

 

Rose groaned and tried to stretch, but the chair was confining even if it was fairly comfortable. “This is gonna be a long day.”

 

Jenny just smiled and shook her head while grinning at the sight of the stars so close to her again. The blonde girl raised her hand and brushed her fingertips against the windows with a soft sigh of contentment. Rose smiled gently at her and breathed out slowly, getting herself comfortable and just watching the stars fly past.

 

……………

 

Ten hours later Rose woke with a start as the ship suddenly veered to the right. Jenny shouted something as she was jolted awake by the ship being violently knocked once again. Rose grunted in pain as another wave tossed her painfully against her restraints. Gripping the armrests of her chair, Rose tried to see the instruments and find out what was going on. The ship began to creak and groan in a way that made Rose’s heart stop for a terrifying painful moment.

 

“Jenny?!” she called loudly, “Are you alright? What’s happening?”

 

“I don’t know,” Jenny yelled above the noise of the alarms that began to sound. “We’re under attack by something!”

 

Then a series of sharp hisses came across the communication unit. Jenny reached over to adjust the radio, allowing a clear deep voice to be heard.

 

“Surrender your vessel and prepare to be taken into our custody.”

 

“Under what authority?” Rose asked from behind Jenny in as calm a voice as she could manage. “What planet and government do you represent?”

 

“None,” the voice replied with a clear tone of amusement. “Your ship entered my ship’s territory and as a result you are under my power. Your ship has no weapons, surrender and survive.”

 

“I don’t think so,” Jenny hissed as she flipped off the radio and hit the ship’s thrusters before Rose could say or do anything.

 

They blast forward at their highest speed, the engines rattling and the controls blinking out for a moment. Rose winced at the sharp increase of speed that pushed her stomach up her throat. She forced her eyes to remain open this time and focused on Jenny as she piloted the ship around one of the smaller planets.   Rose’s eyes rested on the sensors and frowned as she noted the other ship now showing up on the screen, drawing even closer to them. Swallowing thickly, Rose tried to think about what they could do. This wasn’t a usual problem for the TARDIS, but then again they didn’t really fly the TARDIS much.

 

Jenny tensed as she checked the sensors and noticed the ship getting closer. Growling in frustration, she ripped her right hand off the controls and began checking the navigation system. She turned off the communication until with a sharp turn of the button, unwilling to listen to more threats. Her eyes searched her other instruments for something that could help them.

 

“There, the Medusa Cascade,” Jenny shouted triumphantly before turning the thruster control sharply and turning the ship.

 

“Medusa Cascade?” Rose frowned as Jenny sharply turned the ship to head straight for the energy field. “That sounds familiar somehow.”

 

Ahead of them a field of rippling green and golden energy illuminated space. Rose could just see stars twinkling on the far side of it, but something was nagging at her memory.

 

“It’s beautiful,” Jenny breathed. “The energy should cancel out our signal, we’ll lose them in here.”

 

Then she remembered. Rose’s eyes widened suddenly as they entered the field and the ship began to shake, “Wait Jenny don’t!”

 

………………….

 

Jack looked up sharply from the pile of reports on his desk as the alarms began to go off throughout the Hub. Jumping up, he rushed out to Mickey’s station where the other man was already frantically working away at his computer. A chart opened up on his second screen showing a sharp rise in the energy levels of the Rift, earning a curse from both of them.

 

“The Rift is becoming active,” Mickey informed Jack with only a faint trace of concern in his voice. “Something is coming through and fast. The energy is building rapidly.”

 

“Any idea where it is going to drop what it is carrying?” Jack asked as he steadied he rapid readouts being generated.

 

 

“Nothing yet,” Mickey said as his eyes scanned the screen, “Wait a moment . . . it is some kind of ship. Over the ocean, it’s going to crash into the ocean.”

 

“If there is a ship, there must be a crew,” Jack yelled to the rest of Torchwood while he pulled on his coat. Gwen and Ianto joined him at the door and Mickey pulled on the headset, “Mickey keep tracking it and let us know of any changes.”

 

“Right,” Mickey muttered as his eyes remained fixed on his screens.

 

Jack and the others rushed to the vehicle, piling in and Ianto started them toward the beach that Mickey had indicated. Pulling out his phone, Jack connected to Mickey and kept updating Ianto on the exact quadrants that they needed.

 

………….

 

Jenny was aware in her overactive mind of the alarms, the ship beginning to fall apart as the energy ripped around it and Rose’s warning that came too late. She let her hands fall away from the controls, knowing that fighting the energy wave would only make things worse. Jenny closed her eyes and sighed, they had been so close and then she had failed to keep them away from stupid space pirates.

 

Her eyes opened as they impacted and she gasped in air as water came pouring into the hull. Jenny turned around to see Rose pulling out of her restraints and standing up to rise above the water. Following the action, Jenny freed herself and moved to join Rose at the cockpit door. Jenny reached for the door, but Rose stopped her.

 

“The energy field damaged the hull Jenny,” Rose cautioned her seriously. “Wait and let the pressure equalize so we can open the door. Don’t waste energy.”

 

Jenny nodded and calmed herself down as the cabin filled with water, reminding herself that panicking wouldn’t help. She took a deep breath as Rose reached for the handle and nodded. The door opened smoothly and Rose pushed herself out of the ship. They were in salty dark water, but glimmers of light above them showed them the proper direction to swim.

 

Jenny kicked herself forward, trying to avoid having to fight the currents of the ocean while keeping track of Rose. In the dark water it proved impossible and Jenny lost sight of the other woman as a strong current pulled her in the opposite direction. She could feel her lungs tightening as her two hearts pumped her precious oxygen rapidly through her body, but she kept straining towards the light above her head. Reaching out of the water she felt air around her fingers and with one most desperate kick forcing her head above the water.

 

Gasping for air, Jenny coughed and became to turn in the water, searching for Rose. She caught sight of shore and let herself drift toward it with the waves. Crawling up onto the rocks, Jenny gasped in more air and collapsed behind a wall of heavy ocean worn stones. She tried to stand up again, but found herself unable to do anything, but drift off unconscious.

 


	11. Dangers of the Monologue

Wolf Signal

Chapter Eleven: Dangers of the Monologue

by Lumendea

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

He boots threatened to get stuck in the damp sand of the beach as Jack moved towards the unfamiliar humanoid figure. His eyes swept over the rest of the beach looking for any sign of a threat; when the rift was active you could never be sure what was going to come through and this was his planet to protect. There was no sign of anyone else or any technology that need ot be worried about. A glance over his shoulder revealed Gwen and Ianto following him a few feet behind.

 

Leaping over the rocks, Jack dropped down next to the young blonde woman and gently reached down to check her pulse. She looked human enough and Jack was fairly familiar with the anatomy of humanoids. This one’s pulse felt a bit off and Jack frowned for a moment in confusion as he tried to figure out what was going on. Ianto reached him in time to see a look of shock on Jack’s face right before Jack’s hand moved to the woman’s chest.

 

“Jack,” Ianto hissed, “This is the hardly the time. She’s unconscious-”

 

“Two hearts,” Jack whispered as he removed his hand and looked up at Ianto with wide eyes. “She has two hearts.”

 

“Alien then,” Gwen said as she reached them, pulling her coat tighter around herself. She looked down at the girl with a soft look of concern. “I don’t see any injuries though, that’s something.”

 

“Yes she’s definitely alien,” Jack said as he gently shifted his arms around the girl. Sand got under his fingernails, but he didn’t care as he carefully lifted her off the ground. “I’m not sure what kind. Lots of species have two hearts of course, but not all of them are humanoid. Most of them aren’t”

 

“Jack?” Gwen asked him softly as she watched the odd hopeful expression on his face. “Do you think you know her?”

 

“Maybe,” Jack chuckled with a little smile playing over his face. “Probably not though, I can’t see him doing a sex change. Don’t even know if that’s possible. Boy would that be fun.”

 

“Huh?”

 

Jack shook his head and still chuckling gently moved around the patch of rocks with the girl in his arms. He adjusted her weight to put her head against his chest so it didn’t flop around. A small sigh escaped her and Jack glanced down to confirm she was still asleep. He couldn’t quite help but laugh again as he imagined the Doctor becoming female. Glancing back at Gwen and Ianto he found them gaping at him and laughed once more.

“Come on you two! We’ve got work to do!” he called to them, nodding back towards the SUV. “Ianto, call Martha for me and ask her to come in.”

 

“She’s in London visiting her parents Jack” Ianto reminded him as he pulled out his phone with a displeased expression. “She won’t be happy about this.”

 

“Tell her I’m sorry, but please return to the Hub as soon as she can. But reassure her that Mickey’s fine for me, I don’t need her on the warpath.”

 

“Figures,” Gwen sighed with a shake of her head. “Poor Martha.”

 

Ianto sighed, but pulled out his phone and began speaking quickly with Martha as they walked. He stopped at one point to shake sand off his oxfords with a loud sigh that made Gwen giggle. When they returned to the truck, Gwen climbed in first giving the girl one more curious look. She pulled out her stun gun and checked it quickly before Jack lifted the mysterious girl into the SUV. As Jack buckled the girl in, Gwen calmly kept the stun gun on her forcing herself to ignore her discomfort with the situation.

 

“Are you sure this is safe?” Gwen asked with a careful look over the young woman. “I’ve been working at Torchwood long enough to know that if it looks like a sweet innocent young woman it probably isn’t.”

 

 

“We’ll be back at the Hub in ten minutes,” Ianto assured her from the front as he started up the SUV. “I’m sure we can get her secured before she wakes up.”

 

Jack climbed in and pulled out his own stun gun, giving Gwen a reassuring smile. “It will be fine Gwen,” Jack promised before he tapped on the video communication feed in the dashboard. A moment later Mickey’s face appeared on the screen as Ianto eased them away from the beach. “Mickey we’re bringing back a survivor. Any news from Martha?”

 

“She’s not happy with you Captain Flash, she’s been looking forward to seeing her Mum and Dad for weeks,” Mickey told Jack with a chuckle. “But she reports that she’ll be back tomorrow morning. You’re lucky I’m the one she talked to when she called in.”

 

“If she calls again tell her I’m sorry,” Jack said with a shrug. “I know how much they mean to her, but I need her here. We’ve got a weird one.” He paused, shivering slightly at the memories of living on the Valiant with Martha’s family. “Any more readings from the Rift?”

 

“The energy spiked when that first ship came through, I saw a few more small spikes, but nothing too out of place,” Mickey responded quickly. “Everything has shifted back to more normal levels now. Did you find the ship?”

 

“No, just a survivor washed ashore.”

 

“It’s possible that the ship didn’t survive the trip and those small spikes were pieces of it falling through,” Mickey offered with a thoughtful nod.

“Odd,” Gwen said from the backseat with a glance towards the video screen. “A spaceship falls apart when a small airplane makes it just fine through the rift.”

 

“That plane went through air,” Jack remarked with a shrug. “Going through the space of the rift was probably easier for it than something built to go through the vacuum of space.”

 

“Or maybe the rift was in a particularly nasty mood,” Mickey offered with chuckle.

 

Gwen turned away from Jack as the blonde girl gave a small groan and shifted against the restraints. The girl wasn’t awake, but Gwen noted the signs of slight awareness. She kept her stun gun steady, but reached out and gently touched the girl’s shoulder.

 

“You’re alright,” Gwen told her softly in hopes of calming her down. “You’re alright.”

 

“Bad Wolf . . . ” Jenny groaned in her sleep.

 

Jack’s head all but snapped around as he looked back at the girl over his shoulder. His eyes were wide and he looked at the girl very carefully with an intense look in his eyes.

 

“Ianto,” Jack hissed through his teeth as he stared at the girl. “Get us back to the Hub now.”

 

…………………..

 

Swallowing thickly, Natalie did her best to stay calm as she stared up at the large green humanoid with red eyes that was seated on a large black throne in front of her. Small buttons and lights covered the throne and every so often she though that she saw something spark across the surface. Around her captor were display panels and a variety of machines that she did not recognize, but that minions were working at. None of the small green creatures looked up at her, all of them kept their face down and shivered with fear anytime their work took them too close to the one of the throne.

 

Natalie felt a surge of anger towards their so called king at the obvious fear the others felt towards him. She straightened up a little and felt less afraid as the anger seeped through her. The king didn’t seem to notice as he shifted his green hand over one of the buttons and pressed it with a long grey talon. Then he leaned forward to look at her allowing Natalie to catch a wiff of his breath that smelled like dead fish and almost made her gag. Its red eyes focused on her and Natalie could see herself reflected in the large black pupils.

 

“Where is the Doctor?” the king demanded in a low gravely voice.

 

“I don’t know,” Natalie admitted honestly. “We were separated when your men grabbed me in the records room. There wasn’t a plan of where to meet or anything.”

 

 

“I do not believe you,” the king growled at her giving her another blast of the dead fish smell.

 

“That’s really sad since I’m telling you the truth,” Natalie half said and half coughed at the foul smell. She glanced at the guards around her who were a bit taller than the green workers, but shorter than the king and all wearing heavy violet colored armor. The guns they were holding on her looked more like spears, but she’d already seen the damage they could do once today. “So what are you doing on this planet anyway? You and your forces aren’t native to Artivi Four.”

 

“I will ask the questions you ugly deformity,” the king snapped at her.

 

“Deformity?” Natalie repeated with her eyebrows raised. “Now see where I’m from you’d be the deformed one and I’m the pretty one,” she informed him, tugging at the heavy cuffs around her wrists. “My people often say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It’s all about perspective.”

 

The king growled at her again, this time louder and the sound seemed to echo around the room. He stood up from his throne and glared down at her with narrowed red eyes. Natalie began to regret her disrespect, clearly only the Doctor could get away with those kinds of remarks. Swallowing again, Natalie kept her back straight as she looked up at the king.

 

“Mind your tongue,” the king informed her sternly. “You are before the future Emperor of the Artivi System.”

 

“How are you going to pull that off?”

 

“I have a created a weapon beyond anything your tiny intelligence can understand,” the king laughed which made the minions shrink down. “You cannot stop it and that Doctor of yours can’t stop me.”

 

“Wow...” Natalie said with a shake of her head, “You are so so stupid. Don’t you know that the villain should never monologue.”

 

“Monologue?”

 

“You know, tell the lovely adventurer how he did it,” Natalie explained with a shrug noticing at the minions were looking at her curiously now. “That always means that something is going to go wrong and since the Doctor is still loose in your ship somewhere it is granted to happen.”

 

“You speak rubbish.”

 

Then one of the soldier rushed into the control room, gasping for air and leaning heavily on his staff gun.

 

“Sire! The emitter is overheating! All our systems are shutting down.”

 

“I told you so,” Natalie said with a smug expression.

 

“What is happening!?” The leader yelled as the lights shut off and the temperature began to fall.

 

Natalie looked towards the minions who looked at each other with wide eyes. Then before the soldiers or king could move they all rushed away from the controls and out the door. One of them kicked at the shin of one of the soldiers and grabbed his weapon when he toppled over. Another reached out and hit a series of buttons on the side of Natalie’s cuffs which opened them. They fell to the ground with a dull thud that was drowned out the sound of alarms going off.

 

Not waiting for an invitation Natalie ran with the minions out into the corridor and followed them down towards the lower levels of the ship. Behind them she could hear more alarms and the howling orders of the king, but no one seemed to be listening. Suddenly a hand reached out from the side and grabbed her, tugging her into a side corridor. She gasped and tried to pull away for a moment before she realized the person who’d grabbed her was the Doctor. Just behind him, tucked half out of sight behind a stack of large metal crates was the TARDIS. Opening the TARDIS, the Doctor pulled Natalie inside and slammed the door.

 

“Doctor? What about the minions?”

 

“They’re activating their escape pods,” he assured her with a smile. “Don’t worry about them, they’ll reach home just fine, but their king won’t be. Big revolution due for them.” The Doctor grinned as he rushed to the controls, “Time to go.”

 

“You are mad,” Natalie laughed with a grin.

 

“Certified on thirty-two planets.”

 


	12. Castaway

Wolf Signal

Chapter Twelve: Castaway

by Lumendea

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Awareness was returning to her very slowly as Rose began to wake. Her eyelids felt heavy and her chest felt tightly constricted. A bolt of panic threatened to jar her to wakefulness until she realized that she was on her stomach. Groaning softly she rolled over and took in a deep lungful of air. It tasted like sea salt and she could smell the ocean. She slowly forced her eyelids open and tried to move a little more. Her muscles all protested at the action and Rose relaxed them again as her vision cleared. She was looking up at the grey sky while some birds flew overhead. Rose smiled very softly, recognizing one of them. For a moment she just watched the white gull fly in a circle over her head.

 

“Earth,” she sighed before inhaling deeply. “I’m on Earth.”

 

Grimacing in pain, Rose forced herself to sit up and look around. She was on a small patch of shore, having just missed a group of rocks when she’d been washed up by the waves. Her clothing was soaking and sticking her skin uncomfortably with waves lapping at her ankles. She pulled her feet away from the water and looked over her shoulder. Behind her was a steep cliff and she couldn’t see anything beyond it, but she thought that she could hear cars over the sound of the waves. Rose took another breath and slowly stood up while her eyes searched the shoreline for Jenny.

 

“Jenny,” Rose called out in a weak voice before swallowing and trying again, “Jenny! Sweetie can you hear me!”

 

There was no reply and Rose felt the first stirrings of panic in her chest. Forcing it down, Rose took a few breaths to calm herself down. With slow shaking steps Rose began to walk towards the cliff face. When she reached it, Rose leaned against it and gently rolled her stiff shoulders.

 

“Don’t panic Rose,” she muttered to herself as her feet threatened to sink into the sand. “You’re fine so the girl with two hearts and greater lung capacity is fine. You just need to find her.”

 

Rose warped her arms around herself and shivered as a cold wind rushed along the cliff. She glanced up and down the shoreline again, checking for any signs of civilization. Seeing nothing, she sighed again and started off toward a slope in the cliff. Getting off the shore where she could see was as good a place to start as any. Each step jarred her sore body, but gradually her muscles loosened and she found herself setting a decent pace. Rose kept her eyes focused on the slope and recited random facts to herself in order to keep her mind from worrying too much about Jennyl

 

Rose wasn’t sure how long it took her to work her way up the twisting cliff face on the small path that only animals used, but she was glad to reach the top. Looking around, her spirits lifted. While she was certainly far from a city, there was a paved road running south not far from where she stood. Looking down at the soft leather shoes she was wearing, she sighed and shook her head at her lack of descent footwear. Rose considered the clothing she was wearing for a moment and laughed, in her plain brown pants and soaked light blue shirt she probably looked like someone from the dark ages. Still it couldn’t be helped, but the thought amused her as she walked toward the road. With any luck she’d be able to get a ride into a town and start figuring out when and where she was.

 

……………………

 

Jenny kept her eyes closed as she listened to the people moving around her. She was gradually becoming more and more aware of her surroundings as the fog in her head retreated. It was difficult to keep her breathing slow and under control, but so far she was managing as she took stock of what she could. Where ever she was, it smelled like a hospital or medical bay with sterilizing chemicals and the tang of electrical equipment.

 

She could hear barely muted voices speaking nearby, but she couldn’t make out their words. It sounded vaguely English like Rose or Donna, but she wasn’t sure. Carefully she breathed a little deeper to flex her chest up and frowned in annoyance. There were restraints around her chest, arms and legs that were holding her secure. They weren’t painfully tight and she guessed she could get lose if she had to. For now, she needed to listen and see what she could find out from whoever her captors were she reminded herself sternly. That was the sensible thing to do. She hadn’t been harmed so far after all.

 

But the urge to free herself and search for Rose was almost overwhelming. Jenny could remember the sight of the beautiful Medusa Cascade she’d flown into to escape the pirates, but she also remembered Rose’s warning. She wondered what the older woman had known about it. Jenny couldn’t quite the voice in her head that was insisting that Rose was hurt somewhere nearby or worse that she was dead. The thought chilled her and Jenny swallowed thickly in an attempt to regain control. She heard footfalls as someone came closer and forced her body to relax. They didn’t touch her, but stopped just short of her.

 

“Her reading are a little higher,” a thickly accented woman’s voice said sounding a bit frustrated. “Still can’t tell what that means.”

 

“Martha will be here in two hours,” a man’s voice shouted from further away. “She’s still stable right?”

 

“I’m not sure how to tell,” the woman’s voice replied. “But I don’t see any injuries, no bleeding or anything. Beyond that I’m not sure what to look for.” The woman sighed loudly before adding in a softer voice, “She looks so young.”

 

“Maybe,” the man’s voice said softer this time. “But hey, look at me.”

 

“True,” the woman’s voice chuckled as the footfalls went back the other direction.

 

Jenny listened again for the sounds of anyone close by before slowly and cautiously opening her eyes. She had to blink as bright lights over her blinded her. As her eyes adjusted, Jenny glanced around carefully, but did not move her head. The ceiling didn’t give her any clues as to when or where she was. All she knew was that they spoke English and sounded human, but that could mean that she was on one of hundreds of planets colonized by humans. She frowned, that wasn’t much to go one. Humans were everywhere and some were peaceful planets and others were the worst places to end up. She had nothing to go on.

 

Wait, no there was also a standing body of salt water, she remembered. They’d crashed into that and she’s swam to the surface. That narrowed it down a bit as did the woman’s accent. As far as Jenny knew she could only think of seventy-three planets that matched what she knew so far, but she didn’t know everything.

 

Turning her head, Jenny looked around the room and noted the medical equipment and the heavy barred door across the room. Whoever they were, they were checking her medically that did not involve dissection, for the moment at least, but weren’t risking an escape. That could be good or bad. They might be trying to help or merely preparing for an experiment of some kind.

 

Jenny returned to her earlier position and closed her eyes. The equipment was much more primitive than she’d been expecting, but she’d seen some odd mixtures of medical equipment over the years. Some colony planets embraced simpler technology and others used ancient leftovers that they could get cheaply. Of course illegal colonies and criminals were known to use mor primitive technology that couldn’t be tracked. She tested the restraints and growled in anger when she realized they were much stronger than she had expected. Probably designed for holding strong creatures, she realized with a grimace. That certainly complicated things.

 

…………..

 

Rose smiled as a car pulled over to the side of the road and a dark haired woman in her thirties leaned out the window. The car was a small blue four door sedan, the sort that had been very common in her home time. She couldn’t quiet help the way her heart sped up a little more. Maybe just maybe she and Jenny had gotten very lucky when they’d gone through the Medusa Cascade.

 

“Are you alright?” the woman asked as she glanced over Rose with barely concealed worry. Rose almost grinned at the sound of the thick Welsh accent.

 

“I’m afraid I had a boating accident,” Rose lied quickly, gesturing to her still damp clothing, “Where I am?”

 

 

“Oh we’re about thirty kilometers from Cardiff, you must been swept down the shore. Are you hurt?”

 

“No,” Rose replied honestly. “I don’t think so anyway, but I can’t find the girl who was with me, I’m not sure where she is.”

 

“Get in,” the woman told her quickly as she reached over and opened the passenger door for Rose. “I’m heading to Cardiff. We can get you to a doctor there and hopefully the police can help you.”

 

Rose nodded and quickly went around the car. She climbed into the passenger seat, sighing gratefully at the warm air in the car. “Thank you, I’m Rose Tyler by the way,” she told the woman as she buckled up and gave her a small smile.

 

“Erin Adams,” the woman said as she pulled back onto the road, “How long have you been out here?”

 

“I’m not sure,” Rose admitted with a shrug, “Judging from the sun I’d say a few hours, there hasn’t been any traffic.”

 

“I’m not surprised,” Erin told her as they began to speed down the road “This road leads to my hometown, it’s only used to going back and forth to Cardiff. Lucky I came along or you would have been in for a mighty long walk.”

 

“Yes, thank you,” Rose replied as she relaxed back against the seat.

 

“I hope your friend is as lucky as you.”

 

“She’ll be fine,” Rose insisted with a firm look and anod. “She’s used to getting out of trouble, Jenny can take care of herself.”

 

Erin raised an eyebrow at Rose’s conviction, but didn’t say anything else except to suggest that Rose go to sleep until they reached cell service. While she wanted to stay awake and see what more information she could gather, Rose’s body decided that sleep sounded good. Erin turned up the heater and reached into the back seat. A few moments later Rose had a blanket spread over her.

 

Rose closed her eyes and tried to take the advice, but couldn’t help but worry about Jenny. What she said was true and she knew it, but after years of being a parent, she just couldn’t shut off her instinct to worry. Turning her head, Rose looked out the window and sighed, at least it was clear that they were in the late twentieth century or twenty first century. Apparently the Cardiff rift hadn’t changed very much.

 


	13. Start of Reunions

Wolf Signal

Chapter Thirteen: Start of Reunions

by Lumendea

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.

 

…………………

 

Rose Tyler knew that she had left Erin Adams very confused at the hospital when she had quickly thanked the woman for bringing her to Cardiff and dashed off in the opposite direction. She actually felt a little guilty as the woman called after her in an almost frantic voice. Erin probably thought that Rose had a head injury or was in shock or any number of things, but Rose couldn’t help but remember what the Doctor had told her about being dead.

 

As much as she wanted to get checked over for any injuries, particularly internal injuries, and to get out of her salt covered clothing Rose knew that going into the hospital would only bring a lot of questions that she couldn’t answer. Sure she had been declared dead because she was missing, but she had no explanation of where she’d been. Plus Jenny had no records on planet Earth so even faking an accident would turn into a mess that Rose did not have time for.

 

She picked up her speed, ignoring the protests of her muscles that had been in the car without movement too long. The shouts behind her faded as she turned at various corners, picking up more speed as her body adjusted. Rose laughed as she wove between people in the streets. She hadn’t been able to run like this in years!

 

Rose slowed down only when she was certain that Erin wasn’t following her with the hospital staff. Breathing deeply, Rose relished the ease which with she had run and how easy it was to catch her breath. Those years as a little old lady had changed her perception of running, but she had missed it. She ignored the looks her messy appearance was getting and pushed the thought away. Looking around, Rose tried to find somewhere to get the date. She considered stopping someone and asking, but didn’t want to be dragged back to the hospital.

 

Thankfully she spotted a news station on the far corner of the street. She half skipped over and leaned down to inspect the front page of the newspaper. A pleased laugh escaped Rose and she almost jumped for joy. The year was 2011! The universe was on her side for once! Maybe it was finally paying back the Doctor for all his work over the years which meant that Jenny was safe... somewhere.

 

Relaxing her pace, Rose worked her way towards the Torchwood Office. Her Doctor had told her about Jack and Torchwood one night when he finally got up the courage to tell her about what Bad Wolf had done. It had been one of the worst conversations they had ever had and had certainly been the worst fight they ever had in the aftermath. He had slept on the couch for week for not telling her before, but she had forgiven him eventually after a bit of groveling. It was herself that she had struggled to forgive, no matter what John had said.

 

Thinking about John made Rose sigh wistfully and she was suddenly very aware of her empty hands hanging at her sides. She ignored the strange looks she was getting on the street with her oddly simple clothing and messy hair as she strode through the streets. Over the years John had slowly told her more and more of his life before and after her in their original universe. Torchwood and Jack had been only a brief part of those long stories, but one that stayed with Rose. It was staggering to think about just how much time had gone by for her, but not for the others. Rose’s steps became a little faster as she realized that Mickey was in this universe somewhere. She was in the right time period to find both Jack and Mickey, the thought almost made her weep with joy. They could help her find Jenny and even if they couldn’t locate the Doctor she knew that her boys would never let her down.

 

Rose stopped suddenly as she reached the plaza and looked out over it. Everything was so familiar. She could almost see that lovely day in Cardiff replaying in front of her eyes as she looked towards the spot where the TARDIS had stood. Sniffing, Rose brushed away a stray tear and lifted her chin. She stepped out into the plaza and looked meaningfully at one of the cameras, giving it a small wave. Someone in Torchwood would be watching the cameras, all she had to do was wait.

 

But she didn’t have to wait long. Mickey Smith was in the habit of glancing at the cameras periodically around playing Tetris or Pac Man. Today it was Tetris and he’d just finished a round when he looked up at the screen. At first he didn’t notice the blonde woman as he scanned the different screen, not really, but when he glanced back at the screen he noticed that she kept looking at each of the cameras around her. Mickey turned fully to the screen and zoomed in on her face. He stopped and blinked. He blinked again and then a loud excited laugh burst out of him. Jumping up Mickey made a whoop of excitement and dashed for the lift, laughing and grinning the whole way.

 

Jack Harkness marched to his door to stare at Mickey’s departing back with a confused look. Frowning slightly, he moved to Mickey’s computer and looked at the screens. Jack stopped and gasped at one of them, blinking in shock. Then a wide grin took over his face and a cry of joy escaped him as he punched the air.

 

Gwen and Ianto rushed over in confusion, but Jack ignored them and yelled, “Hold the lift Mickey!”

 

Mickey did as he was told, but was visibly excited as he waited for Jack. Thankfully he didn’t have to wait long as Jack rushed over and vaulted onto the platform. He hit the controls and the lift began to rise with the two eager men looking up at the sky and at each other with barely contained excitement.

 

 

“Told you so,” Mickey laughed, “Told you she wasn’t done.”

 

“I’m not the one that argued with you,” Jack reminded him as he rubbed his hands together.

 

“Can’t this thing go any faster?”

 

They reached the top and then neither moved as they fixed their eyes on Rose Tyler ten yards in front of them. She was still looking at the cameras, but then as if feeling their eyes she turned to look towards the platform. A wide happy smile took over her face and her eyes shined with unshed tears. Mickey recovered from his shock first, leapt off the lift and rushed to Rose. He swept her up in a tight hug and they both laughed as Mickey spun her around.

 

As Mickey set her down Rose found Jack watching her with soft eyes and a wide almost watery smile.

 

“My turn,” he said quickly hugging Rose and lifting her off the ground.

 

Jack grinned as he held her close and tightened his grip before a very dark thought crossed his mind. Then he paused and set Rose down, drawing back to take a really good look at her. Rose just smiled gently at him with an understanding look.

 

“It is me Jack,” she assured him bringing up one hand to rest it on his, “Really not an alien trick or whatever else you might be thinking.”

 

“Rose?” Jack asked softly searching her features.

 

“We danced in front of Big ben during World War II,” Rose told him with a smile. “You and the Doctor went on about bananas while we were dealing with a mutation caused by alien nanogenes.”

 

It was her smile that convinced Jack, as her tongue moved to the corner of her mouth in a habit that even after so many years she had never broken. Jack gave a triumphant laugh and pulled Rose into another hug, lifting her off her feet and spinning her around. Mickey laughed and the three ignored the strange glances they were getting as people walked past them. Rose ignored the rush of blood to her head as she started to become dizzy and instead breathed in the smell of Jack and tightened her arms around him.

 

Some time later Jack set her down, keeping a tight hold of her hand. Mickey stepped closer to her and took the other hand. Rose took a deep breath and looked at between the two of them. It was amazing seeing them again when she had lived a whole life knowing that she never would. For a few more minutes none of them managed to say anything.

 

“Jack,” she finally said around her tight throat. “I need your help.”

 

“What is going on Rose?” Mickey asked as his happy expression melted away, “Thought you were living happily ever after with the Doctor clone.”

 

“I was and I did. I’ll explain later, but right now I need to find a girl that was with me. Our ship crashed through the Medusa Cascade and I washed up on shore a few hours away from here due to the tides. I’m not sure where she is, but we need to find her. She looks human, but isn’t so if the wrong people find her-”

 

“Blonde hair and two hearts?” Jack asked quickly cutting Rose off.

 

“Uh yeah,” Rose said, startled at the luck, “I take it she’s at torchwood.” Rose’s eyes hardened, “You better not have done anything to her Jack Harkness.”

 

 

“No!” Jack assured her, “We found her on the beach after a spike in rift activity. Martha Jones, you remember her right, is on her way back from visiting London. The girl uh Jenny is asleep inside the Hub.”

 

Rose visibly relaxed and smiled in relief. She gave Jack and small apologetic smile and said, “I don’t know why the universe is suddenly being so accommodating, but I’ll take it.” She glanced over Jack’s shoulder and added, “Come on then, let’s get down there.”

 

“Nice to see you too Rose,” Mickey said with a shake of his head making Rose flush slightly.

 

“I’m happy to see you both and I can’t wait to catch up on everything I’ve missed.” Rose assured them quickly. “But Jenny is my responsibility.”

 

“Well then,” Jack said as he offered Rose his arm, “Shall we?”

 

……………….

 

Jenny smiled as the restraints finally slipped out of position on her right hand and pulled her arm free. Twisting her body, she freed her other arm and then her legs in short order. Slipping off the bed she didn’t make a sound and stepped over to the wall. Jenny moved against the wall slowly and looked out across the room. Only one of the men was left along with a dark haired woman. Jenny couldn’t be sure she’s get better odds than this. Slowly she slid the door open and eased her way into the main room, staying in the shadows.

 

“What is going on?” the dark haired woman asked as she and the man stared at a screen.

 

“I’m not sure,” the man said shifting his weight, “I can’t imagine many people that Jack and Mickey both know that we don’t.”

 

Jenny crept forward, her eyes examining the exits around the room, but she couldn’t be sure if they truly led outside. The large metal door seemed the most likely as it was built for defensive proposes. She knelt in a dark corner to observe the woman and the man. They both were carrying small firearms, the woman’s in clear sight and the man’s hidden underneath his suit jacket. Soldiers. Jenny recognized it quickly from her programming and had to shake off her first instinct to attack and neutralize them. No, that wasn’t it. She didn’t know why they had taken her or if they were an actual threat. Jenny told herself that she’s just wait for these two to move away from the door, but then the woman turned and spotted her.

 

Gwen’s hand quickly dropped to her gun, but she didn’t draw it as she met the girl’s eyes. They stared at each other in silence as Ianto drew his gun and pointed it at the girl.

 

“Calm down,” Gwen demanded seeing Jenny tense. “Ianto put that away.”

 

“We don’t know what she is,” Ianto reminded her before looking at Jenny. “Calm down and we won’t hurt you.”

 

Jenny’s instincts kicked in at the sight of the gun and she rolled quickly to the side before jumping forward to grab Gwen’s arm. She knocked Gwen’s hand off the gun and drew it, pointing it at Ianto. Jenny kept her grip tight on Gwen’s arm and holding the woman partially in front of her.

 

“I say we both calm down and you start by telling me where I am.”


	14. Parental Issues

Wolf Signal

Chapter Fourteen: Parental Issues

by Lumendea

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Rose Tyler had seen a lot of things in her long life as both a Torchwood agent and the wife of a part Time Lord part human. It came with the territory, that and small explosions. She had faced down invasions by giant crab like aliens and potato look a likes and helped negotiate treaties with species as different from hers as night from day. Rose had filled out forms upon forms after each invasion and even turned them in on time. She had managed to stay sane married to Doctor John Nobel while he built a new sonic screwdriver by taking apart almost every appliance in their house. She hadn’t killed him when he told her the truth about Jack, leaving him behind and her part in the messy whole affair.

 

Rose Tyler had even survived carrying, birthing and raising three Time Lord hybrids on Earth. Donna, Jack and Adric had not made that easy by any stretch of the imagination as they joined their father in taking things apart and finding trouble wherever they went. They had been sleepless nights, lots of conferences with concerned or stunned teachers and serving as a driver, cook, nurse and mediator on a daily basis. She’d managed, she’d survived and even thrived. So yes she’d seen a lot by any standards.

 

However, Rose had never walked into Torchwood to find one of her children pointing a gun at a Torchwood agent as he pointed one at her. Nope, that was completely new, even if it was only an adoptive child, it had never happened before. Every muscle in her body tense and Rose struggled to stay calm and keep breathing. Jack beside Rose shifted into military mode, taking back command of his team.

 

“Ianto lower your weapon,” Jack ordered before he turned his attention to Jenny. “We don’t want to hurt you, Jenny. Rose is an old friend of mine. I’ll help both of you however I can,” he promised in a much softer voice.

 

Jenny sought Rose’s eyes, her own bright with confusion and worry. Rose nodded to the girl and took a few steps away from Jack. After a moment of hesitation, Jenny dropped her arm and let go of Gwen’s arm. Gwen quickly moved over to Jack while rubbing her arm with a slight wince.

 

“You’ve got a grip,” Gwen muttered, trying to smile and lessen the tension.

 

Rose on the other hand was angry, both at Torchwood and at Jenny. Striding forward down the stairs, Rose stopped just in front of Jenny and held out her hand for the gun. Jenny saw the look in Rose’s face and felt her own anger rising, this wasn’t her fault! She didn’t like guns and wasn’t actually going to hurt anyone!

 

“It wasn’t my fault,” Jenny said stubbornly as she placed the gun gentle into Rose’s hand.

 

“You know better,” Rose replied sternly as she wrapped her fingers tightly around the weapon. “You over reacted.”

 

“I was restrained,” Jenny protested with a slight pout.

 

“You got loose,” Rose reminded her evenly. “You didn’t need to take a hostage.”

 

“It wasn’t like that,” Jenny defended with an obvious pout as she crossed her arms. “I just reacted.”

 

“I know,” Rose sighed calming her voice down. “That’s what worries me.”

 

 

Jenny didn’t know how to identify the look in Rose’s eyes and the tensions on the woman’s face. Instead she released her grip on the gun and pulled her hand away. She couldn’t help but be reminded of her father’s initial reaction toward her and disliking the thought. Rose relaxed once she had the gun in her hand. With a quick practiced movement Rose removed the magazine and popped the bullet out of the chamber. She laid the weapon out of the nearby medical table.

 

Then she turned back and stepped closer to Jenny, pulling the girl into a tight hug. Rose didn’t say anything as Jenny returned the hug and gently ran a hand down the girl’s long hair. Jenny relaxed at the embrace, reassured that she wasn’t going to be dismissed for her reaction. Rose rocked her gently and made a soft reassuring sound. She was gratified when Jenny fully relaxed against her.

 

“No harm done,” Mickey said from next to Jack after a few moments. “I’d say time to drink something without caffeine.”

 

“Good idea,” Jack said glancing at Ianto and Gwen. “Everyone relax, Rose is an old friend of mine and apparently the girl is safe.”

 

Rose let go and Jenny and stepped back to examine Gwen and Ianto. Her eyes noted the look of curiosity on Gwen’s face and she smiled at the vague memory of speaking with Gwen the last time she was here.

 

“I’m Rose,” she stepped forward offering her hand. “I don’t know if you remember me, but we spoke briefly during that whole stolen Earth episode with the Daleks.”

 

“Yeah I remember,” Gwen replied with a soft laugh as she stepped forward and shook Rose’s hand. “I’m Gwen. It was something about me being from an old Cardiff family wasn’t it.”

 

“Something like that,” Rose agreed with a nod before looking towards Ianto.

 

“Ianto,” the man supplied quickly before leaving the room to find food. “Pleased to meet you, I suppose I’ll go and prepare something for our guests.”

 

“I remember him from the network too,” Rose remarked as she watched him head out of the room. “So you’re still with Torchwood then.”

 

“Yes,” Gwen replied with a pleased nod, but her eyes drifted over to Jenny.

 

“Well good to see you again,” Rose told her before she turned and held out her hand towards Jenny. The girl smiled and took it at once, moving over to stand next to Rose. “This is Jenny. We met each other when I crashed into a planet and decided to help each other.”

 

“Hello Jenny,” Jack said with a grin, holding out his hand to her. Jenny returned the smile and accepted his hand only to blush slightly and giggle when he kissed it. “It is a pleasure to meet you, any friend of Rose is a friend of mine.”

 

“Jack stop it,” Rose said firmly before an almost evil smile appeared on her face. “Really I mean it. I would have to kill you and keep killing you.”

 

“Oh I’m just being friendly Rose,” Jack protested, but he winked at Jenny.

 

“She’s you and the Doctor’s kid isn’t she,” Mickey said with a grin as he glanced between the two of them. He laughed as a terrible look of realization mixed with panic appeared on Jack’s face. “Pretty obvious Captain Flash.”

 

“Do you know my father?” Jenny asked, glancing between the two eagerly, her pervious distrust totally forgetten.

 

Jack took a small step back and lessened his charm before he answered her, “Sure, the Doctor is an old friend of ours. I traveled with him and your mother for a while.”

 

 

“Jenny isn’t my daughter Jack,” Rose informed him with a chuckle even as she put her arm around the girl for a quick little hug.

 

“What?!” Mickey and Jack both gasped, looking between Jenny and Rose.

 

“You’re kidding right,” Jack asked and then seeing the look on Rose’s face shook his head. “Wow, didn’t think I’d ever see the day. He was always too wrapped up in you whenever I saw him.”

 

“Oh no, I don’t have-” Jenny started to explain when a cry from the door made everyone turn.

 

“Oh my god Jenny!?” Martha Jones walked forward toward the girl with an expression of shock. She covered her mouth for a moment in surprise before shaking her head. “But you’re dead.”

 

“Easy babe,” Mickey said gently as eh moved over to Martha and wrapped an arm around her. “It’s okay.” Rose gave them a look of interest and smiled softly while Mickey mouthed the word ‘later’ to her.

 

“Martha, right?” Jenny asked carefully, nibbling on her bottom lip. “The one who was with my dad?”

 

“Yeah,” Martha shook her head in surprise as she tried to recover herself. “We- he thought you were dead. You were shot and he and I both checked you ourselves.”

 

“That’s what Rose said,” Jenny told Martha with a shrug and a nervous laugh. “I remember dying with Dad and then I woke up later.”

 

“Woke up?” Martha said weakly before chuckling. “Strange genes, that must be it.”

 

“That’s an understatement,” Rose supplied with a nod. “I think it was a limited regeneration since her DNA structure didn’t change. Course it might have had something to do with that… breath of life thing on the planet too.” She shook her head and looked at Jack. “Seems Martha never told you the story. Jenny was created from the Doctor’s genes only, she doesn’t have a biological mother unless you want to count the machine that spit her out. The blonde hair comes from his fifth life I think, though I suppose it does make her look a bit like me.”

 

Martha noticed Rose for the first time and glanced over at Jack while tightening her hand around Mickey’s. “Isn’t she supposed to be in the other universe? What’s going on? Is the universe ending again?”

 

“Long story,” Rose told Martha as she rubbed her forehead. “I’m not really sure what happened, but I don’t think we’re facing a crisis this time.” She paused and smiled again, “Well Doctor Jones I think Jenny and I should have an examination if you don’t mind. Just to make sure flying through the rift didn’t do anything to us.”

 

“Actually it’s Jones-Smith now,” Mickey told Rose who smiled wider at the pair of them. “Just had our first anniversary.”

 

“Congratulations then to you both,” she gave Mickey a warm smile that then shifted into a cheeky teasing one. “Glad to see you settled down with someone able to keep you in line.”

 

Martha managed a weak laugh and relaxed a little bit. She smiled at Mickey and he smiled warmly back at her making Rose feel a bit better.

 

“I’ll call the Doctor,” Jack told the assembled group with an almost pained look. “He needs to know what is going on.”

 

Rose paused and swallowed before nodding and forcing a smile. Nodding she sighed and said, “Yeah, you’d better do that.”

 

Jack gave Rose a soft affectionate look even as he nodded. Martha seemed to recover from her shock and stepped away from Mickey, giving his hand one last squeeze. She gestured for Rose and Jenny to follow her back into the medical area with a small encouraging smile. Jenny looked at her and Rose nodded, giving the girl a small push. She lingered for a moment and looked at Mickey who gave her a soft smile. Sighing in return, Rose nodded and followed Martha into the medical bay.


	15. Weirdness

Wolf Signal

Chapter Fifteen: Weirdness

by Lumendea

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Holding tightly to the TARDIS rail, Natalie tried to keep herself upright as the TARDIS lurched and spun through the vortex. The Doctor dashed around the TARDIS controls, hitting and turning bottoms with unrestrained glee. He was having far too much fun making her sick in her opinion, but she supposed that she should be used to his driving by now. Yet he’d been worse on their last few trips, ever since they saw Jack in Cardiff. Natalie frowned and watched the Doctor, wondering just what was going on in his head.

 

Then to her surprise the sound of a mobile phone ringing began to echo in the TARDIS console. She looked around for any sign of the phone only to catch sight of it in a small niche just below the controls that she hadn’t notice before. It kept ringing, but the Doctor ignored it.

 

Frowning at the Doctor, Natalie let go of the rail and stumbled to the main controls as the ship rocked. She grasped the edge tightly and leaned forward around the Doctor’s arm to grab the phone. The Doctor ignored the phone it as he adjusted their position with a wide smile and dashed around Natalie to the other side. His energy like usual melted her irritation away and Natalie shook her head fondly.

 

“Hello?” Natalie greeted into the phone, trying not to laugh at the Doctor’s antics and hoping that the translation system would work with whoever was calling.

 

“Hello Natalie dear,” a cheerful voice that she recognized all too well called on the other end.

 

“Jack Harkness,” Natalie greeted with a warm chuckle and softening expression. “Calling again so soon? A girl could get the wrong idea,” she teased with a growing smile as the TARDIS thankfully eased the bumpy ride.

 

She looked up to see the Doctor watching her for a moment with a strange expression on his face. He looked torn between irritation, curiosity and fondness, but as soon as he realized she was watching him, he turned his attention back to the TARDIS.

 

“Oh dear Natalie, you know I’m crazy about you,” Jack told her in that smooth flirty tone that she knew so well. Natalie heard something in the back ground and then Jack sighed dramatically. “Sadly this is not the time. I need to speak with the Doctor.”

 

“Doctor!” Natalie called over, “Jack needs a word with you.”

 

“Not a good time,” the Doctor shouted to Natalie without looking her way. “Busy driving!”

 

“He claims he’s busy,” Natalie informed Jack as she gave the Doctor a irritated look.

 

“So he’s going to be like that then,” Jack huffed before pausing for a long moment to consider what to say next. “Natalie tell him he needs to come back to Cardiff.”

 

“Doctor, we need to go to Cardiff.”

 

“Is the world ending?” The Doctor questioned without looking her way. “No point if the world isn’t ending. TARDIS is charged up and you just saw your family two weeks ago.”

 

Natalie sighed and rolling her eyes spoke into the phone again, “He’s not interested in a social call Jack.”

 

Jack muttered something she couldn’t make out on the other end and probably didn’t want to. She was ready to shove the phone at the Doctor and remind him that she wasn’t his secretary with Jack spoke up again.

 

“Fine then Natalie, just tell him that his daughter Jenny is here at Torchwood, having just come through the rift,” Jack informed her almost gleefully. “She’s looking for him with a surprise.”

 

Then he hung up leaving Natalie holding the phone in confusion. The Doctor had a daughter? Her mind stumbled over the idea for a minute before a nasty lurch by the TARDIS kicked her into action. Gripping the console, Natalie slipped the phone back into place and looked back at the Doctor.

 

“Jack’s not happy with you Doctor!” she called over to him, her fingers tightening as the Doctor pressed another button and the TARDIS jolted. “You’re doing that on purpose!”

 

 

“I don’t feel like going to Cardiff right now,” the Doctor replied with a shrug, not even answering her accusation.

 

“He said your daughter Jenny is there looking for you,” Natalie informed him with a sharp look and a roll of her eyes. “I didn’t know you had a daughter.”

 

The TARDIS suddenly stilled as the Doctor turned sharply to her. His brown eyes were wide, he looked a bit pale and the expression on his face was one of utter shock. “What?” he demanded and for a moment Natalie was at a loss for words at the glint of hope, desperation and anger in his eyes. She suddenly understood that whole Oncoming Storm thing a bit better. He lunged forward and griped her arms. “What did he say Natalie?”

 

“Jack said that your daughter Jenny is at Torchwood with a surprise for you,” Natalie stuttered trying to give the Doctor a reassuring smile despite her own sense of alarm. “He said she had just come through the rift.”

 

“The rift,” the Doctor muttered letting go of her arms. He ran a hand through his hair and stepped away from her. Natalie heard him mumble something to himself that she couldn’t make out before he turned back to her. “Are you sure it was Jack?”

 

“Yeah,” Natalie said a bit surprised by the question. “It was Jack and he wasn’t happy with you when you wouldn’t talk to him. Doctor what’s wrong?”

 

“For once,” the Doctor laughed with a grin as he twisted a control and made the TARDIS lurch in the opposite direction, “Nothing!”

 

Natalie groaned and grabbed onto the railing again, “You are doing this on purpose aren’t you Doctor?!”

 

………………

 

Martha glanced at the doorway when Jack Harkness walked in as she was checking Jenny’s hearts. The steady double heartbeat was reassuring in the chaotic shock of the day as the girl breathed in and out calmly. Jenny was sitting on the examination table with a bored expression as she feet swung in front of her. Martha almost chuckled at the realization that the young woman was reminding her of a little girl. Then again, Martha reminded herself Jenny wasn’t really as old as she looked.

 

Jack walked over to join Rose where she sat in a chair by the examination table. Martha turned to watch the pair for a moment as Rose looked up at Jack. Her expression was one of resigned nervousness, but she forced a smile for Jack who took her hand and squeezed it gently. The pair shared a fond look and Martha smiled to herself.

 

“I called the Doctor, spoke to his current companion Natalie,” Jack finally told Rose. “I told her that Jenny was here,” Jack said as he looked over at Jenny with a smile that the girl returned before he turned his attention back to Rose. “I figured he wouldn’t believe me about Rose so I didn’t tell him that.” He looked between Jenny and Rose as he let go of Rose’s hand and stepped back to lean against the wall. “So who is going to explain?”

 

“Jenny is the Doctor’s daughter,” Martha told him calmly as she pulled off her stethoscope and setting it to the side. “She was created artificially on a planet called Messaline from a sample of the Doctor’s tissue. These human colonist were using a machine to rapidly create soldiers for their war.”

 

“Which I didn’t support,” Jenny added quickly with a proud look on her face.

  
“No she didn’t,” Martha agreed with a nod. “She helped us end the war and bring peace to the planet, but then the general tried to shoot the Doctor…” Martha trailed off and gave Jenny a small smile. “We thought she was dead.”

 

“I woke up later,” Jenny explained with a glance over at Jack. “But Dad had already left.”

 

“I know how that goes,” Jack muttered with a cautious glance at Rose.

 

“John told me about that Jack,” Rose sighed, rubbing the side of her head sadly. “I’m so sorry.”

 

“John?” both Martha and Jack questioned.

 

“The other Doctor, my Doctor,” Rose supplied with a far off look.

 

 

“Is he here on Earth?” Jack asked quickly as he straightened up. “Should we be worried about problems in the universe?”

 

“No,” Rose shook her head and forced a small smile. Jenny slipped off the examining table and moved to stand next to her. “I’m not sure what happened, but I think it has something to do with Bad Wolf.” Rose took a deep breath before she continued, “John is dead, he’s been dead for years. I was an old woman and I was dying, then next thing I know I’m waking up younger on some planet that I’ve never been at before. That is where I met Jenny and we teamed up to get back to Earth. The locals kept talking about Bad Wolf there.”

 

“Bad Wolf?” Mickey asked as he walked in and stood next to Rose. He put his hand on her shoulder with a gentle smile. “Can’t say I’m surprised.” When Rose looked up at him Mickey gave her a soft look. “I am sorry about your husband Rose, but I’m still glad to see you.”

 

“Thank you,” Rose whispered with a smile. “I’m glad to see you too Mickey. Mum set a place for you every year and Dad toasted to you. I’m glad that you’re happy.”

 

“I’m sorry to break this up,” Jack said gently. “But we’ve been seeing the words Bad Wolf a lot lately.”

 

“More than a lot,” Mickey laughed as he eased his grip on Rose and moved over to stand by Martha. “Over the last week we’ve been seeing or hearing them two to three times a day. Bit annoying really.”

 

“Wow,” Rose laughed and shook her head. “Wish I had an answer for you. It seems likely that the words were heralding my return like last time, but why I’m not sure.”

 

“You don’t seem very happy about potentially seeing the Doctor,” Jack observed.

 

“I was, I mean I am, but….” Rose sighed and leaned back with a tired sight. “I spent years married to a human version of him who had all the memories of our times together and now I’m going to see the original again who doesn’t have any of the memories of the decades John and I were married. I’m worried about freaking out on him or that it will be too much.”

 

“Here,” Martha said as she handed Rose a bottle of water. “Breathe and drink that.”

 

Jenny reached down and squeezed Rose’s hand in silence while Martha straightened up, turning back to Jack and Mickey.

 

“Well Rose and Jenny are both showing no injuries, but they are both registering some kind of energy that I can’t identify. It is probably from coming through the rift, but it isn’t dangerous according to my results. Rose also shows the normal cell mutation from time travel.” Martha looked at Rose with a pensive look. “As for the reverse in your aging, I can’t pin that down. The Doctor will probably know what to look for.” She paused and gave Rose and apologetic look and added, “I know you’re nervous, but it would be wise to have him check over your results as soon as possible when he gets here.”

 

Martha was about to say more when a wind began blowing through Torchwood. Rose tensed before jumping to her feet while Jenny grinned looked around with wide eyes. The girl dashed toward the noise in the main room as the wind picked up. Jack followed and signaled to Gwen and Ianto to stand back. Rose hung back with Martha and Mickey in the medical area, watching Jenny as the blue box materialized slowly.

 

“It will be okay,” Martha told her gently while Mickey reached down and squeezed her hand.

 

 

“I know that,” Rose replied with a nervous chuckle. “It is also going to be very strange and very awkward for a while first.”

 

“He cares about you,” Mickey said firmly. “Always did Rose, don’t doubt that.”

 

“And I care about him,” Rose admitted as the TARDIS finished appearing, “Still going to be weird.”

 

“When aren’t thing with that man,” Martha teased with a smile, knocking her shoulder gently against Rose’s.

 

“True,” Rose agreed as the two shared a smile.

 

The TARDIS door flew open and the Doctor stepped out, his eyes landing on the grinning Jenny.

 

“Hello Dad,” Jenny said before he scooped her up in a hug.


	16. Fighting

Wolf Signal  
Chapter Sixteen: Fighting  
by Lumendea

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The Doctor grinned as Jenny wrapped her arm around him and laughed as he hugged her tightly. A happy, almost pained laugh escaped him as he felt her faint double heart beat against his chest. Breathing deeply in caught the scent of something like sandalwood, a hint of grease, sea salt and that wonderful scent of time that he’d always associated with TARDIS and Time Lords. He didn’t know how Jenny smelled like that, but was wonderful. With a whoop of excitement he swept the girl up and spun her around. She rewarded him with a happy bright laugh that eased something in his chest between his hearts.

Finally, he set her down and cupped her face with both hands, looking hard at her. She didn’t appear to be much older though he could see that the shine of raw naivety that had been in her eyes had dimmed. There was still a spark of excitement and curiosity in her blue eyes that reassured hm that she’d been alright.

“Jenny,” he said softly making her smile and nod as she could see the tears gathering.

“Yes Dad, it’s me,” she replied gently. “I woke up later after you had left, some kind of regeneration or result of the Breath of Life.”

“Oh I’m so sorry... I thought...”

“I know,” Jenny told him as she pulled away from his faces to hug him again, “I know and I’m not angry. It was all okay. I took a ship and went off to explore the universe. Ran a lot, saved a few planets and ran some more.”

“That’s my girl,” the Doctor breathed out with a grin before he blinked and frown. “Wait, who told you about regeneration?” 

“I did Doctor,” Rose said as she stepped out into the main room from where she’d been hiding out of sight. For a moment she just stared at him taking in the young features, the wild brown hair and wide brown eyes. They were so familiar to her, but she hadn’t seen them for many years. “When I met Jenny and realized who she was,” Rose forced out, struggling to keep herself from bolting and her hands from shaking. “I told her all about you since you didn’t have a chance to before.”

Rose kept her back straight and her breathing under control as she gave the Doctor a soft smile. The urge to run was back, but having said her piece it was easier to breathe. The Doctor was completely still and staring at her with his jaw slightly slack. It was the same expression John had shown her when she told him she was pregnant and that realization made her chest ache. Rose quickly pushed such thoughts from her mind, this wasn’t John. The same position she had once been in, trying to become comfortable with the Doctor’s clone was now reversed. Only he didn’t have all the memories and emotions of decades of marriage and family. She internally grimaced, wondering for the first time why this had to happen. 

“Hello Doctor,” Rose added for good measure around the lump in her throat.

“Rose...” the Doctor blinked at her, still in shock and then looked back at Jenny. “What happened?” He asked before returning his eyes to Rose as if he was expecting her to vanish.

“Rose and I met on Keribos. My ship had crashed there and Rose had well... crashed there,” Jenny answered carefully as she watched her father’s face. “Anyway she knew who I was so we fixed my ship and traveled to Earth together.”

“By way of the Rift,” Jack couldn’t help but add with small smile as he eyes moved between Rose and the Doctor.

“Yeah,” Jenny flinched slightly at the memory and rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment. “That was my fault. I was trying to get us away from pirate and ignored Rose’s warning.”

“Worked out all right in the end,” Martha said trying to lighten the room even as she gripped Mickey’s hand tightly.

 

The Doctor was still looking at Rose and she was beginning to squirm under the gaze. Martha looked between the two and noted Jenny’s fallen face. The girl was looking between the two almost desperately with a growing frown. The girl had clearly hoped for more from the reunion of her father and basically her mother. Martha couldn’t help but feel for the girl even if the rational part of her knew that there was a lot of things that the Doctor and Rose would need to address before Jenny would get things the way she wanted. Stepping forward, Martha handed the Doctor Jenny and Rose’s read outs.

“I’d like you to double check their readings, Doctor,” Martha said in a no nonsense tone to get his attention. “They traveled through the rift and Rose underwent some odd... procedures.”

The Doctor looked back up at Rose quickly even as he snacked the papers from Martha’s hands and demanded, “What’s wrong?”

“I’m seventy-five years old and was an old woman on my death bed, but then I died and woke up on Keribos like this.” Rose informed him with a shrug as she gestured to herself. “I don’t know if asking what’s wrong is the way to phrase it.”

“Is he here?” the Doctor asked after a moment and a hesitate glance towards Jenny.

“No,” Rose didn’t need to ask if he meant his duplicate. “He’s been gone for several years.”

“I’m so sorry,” The Doctor told her with softening eyes and a guilty expression taking over his face. For a moment Rose wanted to smack him. 

“Thank you, but we were happy,” Rose assured the Doctor as calmly as she could. Rose looked down at the readings he was still grasping and looked back to Jenny with a forced smile. “Well Jenny, sweetheart, back into the medical lab,” she said in a cheerful voice.

“The tables are cold,” Jenny whined, but she took Rose’s hand anyway and let herself be led back inside.

The Doctor watched them go and Martha follow. She turned and gave him a very distinct look that said ‘get in here now.’ He didn’t move from his spot, staring after the two women who had crashed back into his life. The Doctor felt lost and confused and barely noticed Jack walk up.

“Go on then Doctor,” he said pointing at the door with a smug smile. “Through there.”

“What is happening?”

“My guess is Bad Wolf,” Jack said lowering his arm with a sigh and giving the Doctor a softer look. “Now go on.”

“Bad Wolf?!” The Doctor hissed as he whirled to face jack with wide almost panicking eyes. “Why this way?”

“If I had to guess I’d say to let Rose have a human life with you and then let her have another life with you,” Jack suggested with a shrug. “You can’t stop saving the universe and this way you don’t have to.”

“That is...” the Doctor searched for a word, “Silly! That’s what it is silly!”

“Then I await your explanation,” Jack informed him with a grin before he walked back toward his office. “Better get in there.”

 

The Doctor glanced over at Mickey who was leaning against the wall, arms crossed and a smug expression. The Doctor frowned at him which just made Mickey grin wider. 

“And you used to call me an idiot,” Mickey teased with a chuckle.

The Doctor frowned and didn’t respond to Mickey. Instead he put on his glasses, took a deep breath and walked into the small medical wing. He didn’t say anything to Rose... didn’t know what to say to her as he read through Martha’s findings. Rose kept glancing at him, but would quickly look back at Jenny who was asking Martha about Earth. Martha for her part was answering Jenny’s rapid questions as best she could while watching the Doctor out of the corner of her eye. 

Jenny huffed as Martha turned away from her again to look at the Doctor and Rose, swinging her legs off the table. She was frowning now and pouting slightly though she wouldn’t have admitted to that. This wasn’t going like she hoped at all. Of course her expectations were fairly high and romantic, she would admit to that. She shouldn’t have expected Rose to able to start up where she left off in her father’s life, not after living another life with essentially him. Still Jenny couldn’t help, but feel disappointed with the awkwardness in the room.

“Honestly!” Jenny snapped after another moment, throwing her hands into the air. “Can’t you admit that you’re happy to see each other at least?!”

The Doctor blinked at his daughter in surprise, looking shocked and nervous. “Well of course I’m happy to see Rose,” he said quickly with a fugitive look towards Rose. “But I need to find out what happened and fix whatever has gone wrong. If there is a hole in the universe I need to find it, send Rose home and fix it.”

“Happy to see me,” Rose repeated with scoffing laugh. “Didn’t figure that you wanted to see me again.”

“Why,” The Doctor started to ask.

“Leaving me on that damn beach again Doctor...you made it pretty clear that you didn’t want me trying to find you again.”

“Rose it was the best option!” He insisted, frowning at his former companion who was glaring right back.

“That’s not good,” Jenny sighed and began to move toward them, but Martha grabbed her arm.

“Maybe they need to have it out,” Martha suggested.

“What was best for me and for John wasn’t up to you! You never asked us!”

“Are you saying you’d change it?!”

“That is not the point Doctor,” Rose growled as she stood up and crossed her arms. “The point is you playing God and taking choices away from people. News flash I should have some say in my own life. I’ve only been back in the same room as you for five minutes and you’ve already decided the course of action concerning me.”

 

“Well I’m sorry that you had such a horrible life with him,” The Doctor shouted drawing Jack and Mickey’s attention in the main room.

“Oh I had a great life with John, Doctor, but that isn’t the point,” Rose stopped and took a deep breath before continuing in a softer voice, “Did you think about it, how hard it would be on him suddenly stuck on Earth.”

“He had you,” The Doctor reminded her, his tone softening slightly.

“Maybe,” Rose conceded with a sigh, “But you decided how it would be.”

“You were safe, happy and loved, Rose, why are you complaining?!”

Rose huffed at him and shook her head, “You really don’t get it do you. I’m angry that you’re still trying to send me back home when the Daleks are coming!” 

She sighed and sat back down on the table, rubbing her eyes. The Doctor swallowed and glanced at Martha and Jenny with wide uncertain eyes. Martha just raised an eyebrow and Jenny crossed her arms giving her father an expectant look.

“What do you want me to do, Rose?” the Doctor asked, resigned a moment later.

“Help figure out what happened,” Rose said looking up at him. “But I’m not going back to the other universe. My life there ended, I died, John is gone and our children are all grown. There isn’t a place there for me now.”

“Okay, no return journey,” the Doctor agreed before quickly returning to looking at the scans. He glanced at Rose out of the corner of his eye and swallowed. Softly he added, “Didn’t mean to upset you so much.”

“I know,” Rose said with a chuckle. “Got used to him always asking first, he learned better.” She gave him a soft smile and added, “I am glad to see that you are alright, Doctor. We thought about you often.”

“Oh,” the Doctor said with confusion, “Uh good.”

Martha shook her head as Rose and the Doctor fell silent and Jenny walked over to Rose. The Doctor was focused on the readings and Rose had taken Jenny’s hand again, talking to the girl softly. Martha smirked, this family was going to drive the entire universe insane at this rate.


	17. Pair of Idiots

Wolf Signal

Chapter Seventeen: Pair of Idiots

by Lumendea

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

The Doctor had not found anything to explain Rose’s condition in the six hours he had been at Torchwood. His frustration was beginning to show as he paced around the small medical bay and messed with his hair. Rose did her best not to stare at him and in the moments she caught herself looking his way she fought to keep her expression neutral. They didn’t speak directly to each other with the Doctor instead asking Jenny about what she’d noticed when Rose crashed and her symptoms over the first few days.

 

But finally the Doctor caved to the evitable conclusion. Glaring at Jack, the Doctor finally accepted that the Bad Wolf was the only option for something like this that left no traces. Jack had smirked and Rose had calmly nodded her head before walking back over to Jenny, leaving him at the other side of the room. The tension in the room was thick and Martha couldn’t help but look between the two of them in a mixture of sympathy and utter fascination. It was like being unable to look away from a fire or a horrible accident.

 

Jenny was pouting. She kept glaring at her father even as she gave Rose adoring looks. Martha struggled not to laugh and Jack was one step away from cooing at the pair. It really was surprising to see them side by side. Rose’s hair was darker than Jenny’s bright blonde, but if she hadn’t known how Jenny was created she might have been suspicious. The way Jenny smiled at Rose and almost snuggled up against her was enough to make Martha feel much better about the insanity of the day. He managed to make an excuse about checking Rose’s blood sample in the TARDIS and fled inside his ship where he finally felt like he could breath.

 

Still the Doctor wasn’t happy about the situation he was now in. Jack and Mickey were looking so smug whenever they looked over at him and Jenny was angry about something even if she wasn’t verbalizing it. He noticed that her anger seemed to only be directed at him, she was giving Rose soft happy looks whenever she thought he wasn’t looking.

 

Rose.... well Rose was being considerate and thoughtful to his discomfort at all times which simply made him feel worse. A big part of him just wanted to grab Jenny, drag her into the TARDIS and run as far away from the insanity of the situation. He could deal with her being annoyed for a bit and he was confident that he’d be able to distract her. She’d want to learn how to fly the TARDIS, he could teach her and he would take her across the universe. They’d be brilliant together, him and his brilliant daughter.

 

Another part of him wanted to take both Jenny and Rose into the TARDIS and get away from Jack’s teasing knowing looks, but he wasn’t the one she loved anymore. She had loved, married and had children with his clone... the adventure he could never have. The way she looked at him wasn’t really about him anymore. The feelings that he knew she’d felt for him had been directed towards another. That had been what he’d wanted for her, a real life with someone who could love her completely even if they weren’t worthy of her. He wasn’t supposed to ever see her again.

 

The Doctor started pacing the counsel room of the TARDIS as the crazy idea to leave now went through his mind. Jenny adored Rose, that was easy to see and Jack would happily look after Rose while Rose looked after Jenny. It wasn’t perfect and the two ladies would be angry with him for awhile, but they could be happy here on Earth with their own little family and Torchwood and he wouldn’t have to worry about it. Surely Rose would fit right in at Torchwood, she’d been brilliant and amazing and fantastic. He could leave and things could go on like they had been for the last few years. Natalie would be cross if he left, but Jack would make sure that she got home.

 

The door of the TARDIS opened a small bit and Natalie walked inside with a soft smile. She looked him over and her smile fell slightly. The urge to run was tingling at the back of his spin again, but now it was joined by the urge to kick something. Instead he managed a small smile and shoved his hands into his pockets.

 

“You alright Doctor?” she asked gently as if he was a spooked creature.

 

“Fine Natalie,” he put on a big smile, “Bored with Jack’s flirting already?”

 

“Hardly,” Natalie giggled, “I’m just going to get my things.”

 

“Your things,” the Doctor repeated, “You don’t have to leave.”

 

Natalie turned to him and took a deep breath before she said, “Seems like a good time. Things have to change now anyway and I do not want to stand in the way of it. You have a family who can travel with you and help you now. I going back to mine.”

 

“Jack tell you that?” The Doctor asked before he thought better of it, “That they are my family?”

 

 

“He didn’t have to,” Natalie replied shaking her head and giving him a warm smile. “I’ve met former companions: Jack, Sarah Jane, Mickey and UNIT, but you don’t react to them like you do Rose.” Natalie shrugged and shook her head with a hint of amusement on her face. “You’re the only who doesn’t see it,” she told him.

 

“She’s in love with someone else. I’m not him.”

 

“I doubt it is that simple for her Doctor. I really doubt it was as simple for them to build a life together after what happened,” Natalie pointed out gently. The Doctor didn’t say anything so after a moment Natalie said, “Spend some time on it and find out if she is seeing you or a ghost. I’ll be just a few minutes packing and then I’m off.”

 

“You really don’t have to leave Natalie.”

 

“No one can do this forever,” Natalie told him with a wide smile.

 

“Someone wanted to,” the Doctor sighed as he looked towards the TARDIS ceiling. “But I suppose not.”

 

Natalie gave him another long look before she sighed and shook her head. “Mickey is right, you are an idiot,” she told him before vanishing into the living area of the TARDIS.

 

The Doctor sat in the chair in the quiet room listening to the sound of her footsteps get further and further way. After a few moments they faded and he clumped into the jump seat. He swung his feet up onto the edge of the TARDIS controls. He didn’t move, but stared straight ahead until Natalie came back with her two full duffle bags. For a moment the Doctor was struck by the notion of how much she’d brought in with her and collected over their time together. Natalie set her bags down by the door before she walked back over to him.

 

Forcing a smile, the Doctor stood up and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. He supposed he should be happy. Natalie had faced some monsters of the universe, but her innocence was largely intact. She was still a happy architecture student that he’d managed to show wonderful things to. Nothing horrible had happened to her and she was leaving on good terms. He should be happy.

 

“Thank you,” Natalie told him softly, but with conviction. “Thank you so much for the most brilliant adventure.”

 

“Thank you for the help and the company,” the Doctor answered in a tight voice.

 

“Oh you didn’t need me,” Natalie said letting go of him with a laugh.

 

“Yeah I did,” the Doctor assured her as he squeezed her hand. “I always need help.”

 

“Okay,” Natalie said, knowing she couldn’t win this one. She hugged him again, set her key on the controls and grabbed her bags. Natalie paused at the door and smiled back at him, “Good luck Doctor.”

 

The Doctor didn’t say anything in response, but managed a smile for her as she left the TARDIS. The door closed behind her and the Doctor breathed out slowly, feeling a heavy weight lifting from his shoulders, but settling on his chest. He knew Natalie was outside now, talking with Jack while Ianto and Gwen helped with her bags. Martha was probably making sure that Natalie had her private number so she could join in with the former companion chats that he wasn’t supposed to really know about. Mickey would be friendly and give the girl a hug once Martha was done and make her promise to call if she needed anything. He’d swing his arm around Martha’s shoulder and smile reassuringly. The Doctor really hoped Jack wasn’t going to talk Natalie into joining Torchwood. She belonged back in university where he’d found her, not fighting aliens in Cardiff. Rose... he had no idea what Rose would do in this situation. She had changed in fifty years... had children and raised them.

 

 

The Doctor exhaled sharply, that the real part of it wasn’t it. He didn’t know her backwards and forwards anymore. When they had first met she was a sweet twenty year old, easy to read and understand, but now she wasn’t anymore. The Doctor frowned at the line of thought, he wasn’t sure if it bothered him or not. Rose understood so much more now. He realized with a groan that she was outside the TARDIS looking after Jenny, the only other Gallifreyian in the universe, and acting as her mother while he was in here sulking. Tilting his head back, the Doctor sighed and stared up at the ceiling.

 

……………….

 

Jenny crossed her arms with a huff as Rose focused her attention on the laptop Jack had given her once the Doctor vanished into the TARDIS.  Rose was reading up on recent Earth history and political news and Jenny was just watching from across the room. She leaned back enough to put her feet up on the desk and huffed again.

 

“You look like him when you do that.”

 

Jenny turned to see Jack Harkness smile at her before sitting down in the chair next to her. He chuckled warmly and looked over at Rose who was either unaware of them or ignoring them.

 

“I guess,” Jenny said with a shrug.

 

“You’re mad at them,” Jack observed with a nod towards Rose. “Her and the Doctor.”

 

“I just...” Jenny shrugged helpless and sighed, “I don’t get it. Mu-I mean Rose loves him, I know she does and I’m certain he loves her.”

 

“Certain?”

 

“How couldn’t he?”

 

Jack chuckled at that and nodded in agreement before saying, “You’re right, he does love her.”

 

“Then why is he in the TARDIS doing whatever it is he’s doing while she’s out here learning about recent Earth history like she plans to stay.”

 

“I think she does,” Jack confessed after a moment. “Rose knows you should go with the Doctor, but knows that she’ll always have a place with me.”

 

“I don’t want her to stay here,” Jenny said firmly, uncaring if she sounded whiny.

 

“I’d love to have her here,” Jack said, but added at Jenny’s glare, “But I don’t really want her here either.” At the girl’s questioning look, he explained, “I care about them and I want what is actually best for them despite everything in the past. She won’t be really happy here knowing he’s out there exploring without her and he won’t be really happy out there exploring knowing she’s living a life here without them.”

 

“Then why?”

 

“Those two are idiots when it comes to what is between them,” Jack supplied quickly with a long suffering sigh. “They always have been.”

 

“Any ideas?” Jenny asked him after a moment as she brought her feet down and straightened up. “I won’t stand for this stupidity.”

 

Jack laughed so loudly that Rose looked over and frowned slightly as she noticed he and Jenny were sitting together. Jack quickly gave Rose a big smile that wasn’t at all that innocent. Rose glanced at Jenny who also gave her a smile. She shook her head and muttered that she didn’t want to know as she turned her attention back to the computer.

 

Rose desperately tried not to think about the plans Jack and Jenny were probably thinking up to torment her and the Doctor. They were now speaking in soft low voices that she had no chance of hearing. Given the plans that Jack had entertained when he was much younger she’d have to talk to the Doctor, if only to warn him.

 


	18. Old Tricks to New Starts

Wolf Signal

Chapter Eighteen: Old Tricks to New Starts

by Lumendea

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.

 

AN: I’m hoping to finally start working on a sequel to this fanfiction. Let me know what you think.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

The metal didn’t budge an inch as the Doctor’s hand collided sharply on the inside of the vault door. He groaned loudly, flinching as he pulled his hand back and shook it. Frowning, he kicked lightly at the door only to jump back a bit with yet another grimace. His brown eyes were shimmering with anger, resignation, irritation and nervousness, but he kept them focused on the door. He studied it for a moment before sighing at the lack of mechanisms that he could access. Everything was controlled from the outside.

 

A soft chuckle from behind him reminded the Doctor of the real problem. He was locked in Torchwood’s vault which lacked a way to get out. Bit foolish really and he’d have words with Jack about that once he did get out. No the real problem was that Rose was behind him, leaning lazily against one side of the vault.

 

“I always figured Jack would lock us in a room together someday,” she remarked in far too calm a voice.

 

“Trickery!” the Doctor shouted at the door, banging his hand on it again for good measure. “And using Jenny to do it!” he muttered as he stepped back from the door, glaring at it.

 

“I doubt he had to twist her arm,” Rose told him and she sat down on the floor and leaned back against the wall. “We made it easy on them. Jenny lures Daddy out of the TARDIS to show him some cool Torchwood toy and Jack wants my opinion on a device, next thing you know the door is shut and we’re locked into a room filled with Torchwood’s little treasures.” She shook her head and laughed, letting her body relax against the wall. “Simplistic yet elegant using our weaknesses against us. I’m almost impressed.”

 

“Sonic screwdriver,” the Doctor told her with a sharp look as he began to dig around in his pockets. “You haven’t forgotten that?!”

 

“No on forgets the sonic screwdriver,” Rose replied with a soft smile that made his two heart jump in his chest. “But I doubt Jack would lock you in here with it, too easy and he is very aware of you can do with the sonic screwdriver.” Rose chuckled and closed her eyes for a moment. “Goodness knows you had quite a sonic device contest when you first met. No, I bet that he warned Jenny about it and she took it off of you.”

 

The Doctor frowned as he dug into his pockets and twisted his body in order to reach through the extra large dimensional pockets. His fingers brushed over the random little items that he collected along the way, but there was no sonic screwdriver. He huffed and straightened up as Rose gave him a knowing look.

 

“Oh we can get out of here in no time even without my sonic screwdriver,” the Doctor said pulling on his glasses/ “All sorts of alien technology in here.”

 

“Anything that will open the door and not kill us?”

 

The Doctor examined the various gadgets with a thoughtful look. Rose was silent as she watched him pick up and study a few little things. She recognized a Ragil curling iron, a Prgit memo pad and a Bogeta camera amongst the items.

 

“Doctor, do remember that they will probably let us out in less time than it would take you to build something new out of whatever that junk is. They didn’t give us any food or water and Jack won’t risk hurting us. Plus if you mess with these items Jack will probably make you fix them or build Torchwood something.”

 

“What Jack wants isn’t that,” the Doctor muttered without looking at her as he dropped the curling iron back onto the shelf.

 

“Sit down and we’ll wait it out,” Rose offered as she patted a patch of floor next to her. “Jenny will get bored waiting for us. Your daughter doesn’t exactly have a lot of patience.”

 

“We could always snog,” the Doctor said, his face brightening. “They’d probably let us out after that.”

 

 

Rose gave him a look and raised her eyebrow at him, a small smile playing at the edges of her lips.

 

“Oh...” the Doctor breathed, swallowing thickly. “I said that out loud didn’t I?”

 

Rose nodded and her smile escaped her control, blossoming into a full grin right before she started to giggle. The Doctor grinned widely at her before he walked over and plopped onto the ground next to her. Tucking his hands behind his head, he leaned back against the wall. They were so close and for a moment he struggled to breath. It was almost natural, for a moment he could almost convince himself that no time had gone past. They were on New Earth lying in apple grass. He wanted to say something, but watched Rose giggle until she recovered herself.

 

“I should be very worried about Jack teaching Jenny these kinds of tricks,” the Doctor said to hold off the awkward silence that he was sure would start any moment.

 

“She’s her father’s daughter,” Rose informed him with another soft chuckle. “I doubt she needed a lot of help. God knows Donna never did, John spent half of her childhood getting that girl out of trouble. Nothing major of course, she had a good heart, but almost no self-control.” Rose’s smile dropped away and she turned thoughtful. She closed her eyes and breathed out before she said, “I know you’re not John, Doctor.”

 

“I know that.”

 

“Intellectually you do,” Rose replied in a soft voice as she opened her eyes and looked up at the ceiling, “But emotionally you don’t really believe that. There is a difference between the two and it means everything in how life is lived and things are decided. You know that I’m aware of you not sharing the history I did with John, you accept this as true fact in your head, but the other part of you doubts it, that part that you have spent almost a thousand years keeping on a tight leash.”

 

She turned her head to look at him and examine him carefully. The look in her eyes was so different than anything he’d ever seen before. It was Rose, the same warm brown eyes that made him feel so much better than he was, but there was experience in them that spoke of so much more. It was more than the experience she’d gained in the TARDIS, more than the wisdom her rough life on the estate had imparted and more than her years trying to get back to him had pushed on her. She was still Rose, but for the first time he really felt the reality that she was so much more than that.

 

“You asked me to help him when you left us at Bad Wolf Bay,” Rose said softly pulling his attention back to what she was saying. “It took time and patience for both of us. He had to both intellectually and emotionally accept that I really was happy there with him and could let go of my life with you.” Rose paused and took a breath before she added, “Part of me would really like to pretend we can just pick back up again and maybe even fulfill all that potential that we always had between us, but we can’t.”

 

The Doctor opened his mouth to start to object without really thinking about it, but Rose raised a hand to his mouth. Her fingers brushed his lips and his hearts jumped again.

 

“We can’t,” She repeated firmly and she lowered her hand, “And it would come out badly if we tried despite what Jenny and Jack would like to think. We don’t really know each other right now, you are different from John, but I’d have a hard time defining those differences and understanding them if we tried to start a romantic relationship now.”

 

“So,” the Doctor almost stuttered, “I’ll head off then, you’ll talk to Jenny-”

 

“We don’t have to go that far,” Rose told him gently. “If you’d like a friend to travel with, someone who can handle it and handle you I certainly wouldn’t mind doing coming for the ride.” She shifted her hand over to his. “I’ve still got a good hand to hold.”

 

“So friends then.”

 

 

“Friends for now,” Rose told him, “When the time is right we’ll get there again, but that time isn’t now.”

 

“Wisdom,” The Doctor breathed as he shook his head, “Rose Tyler, wonder of the universe.”

 

“Well experience either kills you or makes you wise.”

 

“So now we just have to wait for Jenny and Jack to let us out of here and then I’ll start teaching Jenny to fly the TARDIS,” the Doctor said jumping to his feet. His smile was smaller, but more natural now. “This is going to be fantastic.”

 

He held out his hand for Rose’s after a moment of hesitation, hoping that she’d meant what she’d said. Without any hesitation on her part, Rose smiled at him and slipped her hand into his. Their fingers twisted into that oh so familiar placement and he helped her to her feet. They smiled at each other for a long moment, just before the door opened and revealed Jack who sighed dramatically.

 

“I was really hoping to get something more interesting on the audio than you two talking,” Jack muttered, but he had a warm smile on his face and was looking at them both with shining eyes.

 

“Please tell you didn’t,” the Doctor groaned, but he shook his head, “Never mind you did, just tell me Jenny wasn’t listening for the same noises you were.”

 

“No kid wants to listen in on their parents Doctor, Jenny included,” Jack said as he looked at the two of them and sighed. “Well the classic locked in the room plan didn’t work like I thought it would, but I suppose Rose leaving with you is step one.”

 

“Yep!” The Doctor cheered with a grin just before he pulled Rose from the room and toward the TARDIS. “Jenny! Get into the TARDIS and don’t forget my sonic screwdriver!”

 

Jenny jumped up from Jack’s desk and ran into the main room. She stopped long enough to hug Martha and Jack before stepping into the TARDIS. Jack laughed as he heard Jenny shout from the inside, “I know you told me, but I still can’t quite believe it. It really is bigger on the inside.”

 

“Yes yes,” The Doctor said quickly with a hint of urgency. “Shut the door and I’ll start teaching you to fly her.”

 

The door slid shut quickly and the TARDIS dematerialized a moment later leaving the staff of Torchwood standing alone. Jack laughed at the abrupt departure and glanced towards Mickey who was smiling fondly at the spot the TARDIS had been. They exchanged a look as Mickey wrapped an arm around Martha.

 

Meanwhile, Rose Tyler backed away from the console to lean against the railings as the Doctor took his daughter’s hands and placed them gently on certain controls. His focus was on Jenny and the controls and the girl was completely focused on the instructions she was being given. Rose tightened her grip on the rail as the TARDIS jerked as Jenny turned a lever too fast. The Doctor quickly corrected it and helped ease the girl’s hands back into the proper positions. Jenny grinned widely as the Doctor slowly took his hands off of hers and pointed to the make instrument she needed to use.

 

Then the Doctor looked over to Rose. Her smile was soft, full of a warm affection for both himself and Jenny, but different than one’s he had seen before. He didn’t know that smile yet, didn’t understand what it meant or what she was thinking when she smiled it. Still, he had time to learn all that he reminded himself. A sharp cry from Jenny made him return his attention to his daughter and tell her about compensating for time distortions in the vortex. Jack had remarked about him having a family with Rose and Jenny, but there was a lot of work to do, both as a teacher and a student. He need to teach Jenny what being a Time Lady really meant, and he had to relearn Rose Tyler all over again if he was going to get that family. It sounded like a great adventure and there was no time like the present.

**Author's Note:**

> My first book is now available on amazon. If you like my stuff please go and take a look at The Iron Realm by J.M. Briggs!


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